California, United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com] Solyndra Inc. has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to the proposed initial public offering of its common stock. The company, a manufacturer of innovative cylindrical photovoltaic systems for commercial rooftops, unveiled its technology in October of 2008, saying that it could be a “game-changer” in the solar photovoltaic industry.
Solyndra’s technology is a 14% efficient copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS)-based thin-film PV system. The company said that its system involves rolling CIGS thin-films into a cylindrical shape and then placing 40 of the cylinders into a 1-meter-by-2-meter panel.
In September of this year, Vice President Joe Biden announced that the Department of Energy (DOE) had finalized a US $535 million loan guarantee for Solyndra. The funding will finance construction of the first phase of the company’s new manufacturing facility.
The guaranteed loan, expected to provide debt financing for approximately 73% of the project costs, will allow Solyndra to initiate construction of a solar panel fabrication facility in California.
Once completed, the plant is expected to have an annual manufacturing capacity of 500 megawatts per year. Solyndra estimates the new plant will initially create 3,000 construction jobs, and lead to as many as 1,000 jobs once the facility opens.
Through October 3 2009, Solyndra has raised close to US $970 million through equity financings, including a $283 million round E and $281 million round F. The company reported losses of $232.07 million for the fiscal year 2008, $114.13 million for the fiscal year 2007, and $27.17 million for the fiscal year 2006.
The company lost $119.2 million in the first nine months of 2009 while bringing in $58.8 million of revenue in the first nine months of 2009 up from $6.0 million in 2008. Since launching its product, the company has sold a total of 18.8 megawatts (MW) of panels, including 17.2 MW in the nine months ended October 3, 2009 and 1.6 MW for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2009.
The joint book-running managers of the proposed offering will be Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated.
