Solyndra, the solar-panel maker we have written about many times here at PG due to its receipt of $535 million in taxpayer money, was host to President Obama yesterday, who was trying to sell his environmental policies. As everyone marveled at the technology, there is another side to the company: the financially troubled side. From VentureBeat.com:

The last time the high-profile political set visited Solyndra, the venture-backed company announced that it had received a massive $535 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy to expand its manufacturing facility in Fremont, Calif. It seemed somewhat likely that Obama would have another major announcement today, regarding either the company or the Energy Department’s aggressive funding agenda — especially on the heels of Tesla’s bold announcement that it would be acquiring the NUMMI automotive plant in Fremont (just down the street from Solyndra), to build electric vehicles with Toyota. But nothing big was unveiled.
Instead, Obama took the opportunity to meet and greet leaders in the Bay Area green technology circuit, address the BP oil spill crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, and emphasize his support for the climate and energy bill that would put a price on carbon and set new quotas for renewable energy generation. Speaking in front of Solyndra solar panels, made with its patented cylindrical technology, was a good photo opportunity for the president. But he also scratched the company’s back, giving it a PR boost in what has become a somewhat rocky time.
The outlook was bright at the end of December when Solyndra filed to go public. Even though it was still reporting quarterly losses, it looked like it would be able to ride the momentum generated by the A123Systems IPO in September (after all, that company was in the red at the time of its sale too). But since then, A123 has seen its stock sink below its debut price. On top of that, auditors retained by the Department of Energy determined that Solyndra’s mountain of debt and quick burn rate could run the company into the ground within two years — a finding they have stapled to its S-1, endangering the pending $300 million IPO.
Obama’s decision to drop into its headquarters demonstrates that Solyndra still has political capital to spend, and, perhaps, that the DOE won’t let it go bust without a fight. This goodwill from Washington could be enough for investors to believe it will get over the hump. But then it will need to start churning out solar modules like mad to get out of the hole it’s dug for itself.
None of this was included in Obama’s speech today, which hit the same high points as his cleantech speeches always do: the need to break dependence on foreign oil, the potential for a new green economy to generate thousands if not millions of jobs, and the importance of holding onto our technological leadership in the world (although he seemed a bit emphatic on this last point than usual, underscoring that China, India and Germany are gearing up to trounce us in solar and other green markets).

Fantastic. Throw another half-a-billion dollars out the window. Here’s a question for Stephen Chu: why did the DOE know that Solyndra was going to run out of cash and still make the investment? If they didn’t know, then the DOE didn’t do its homework. So which is it?