Brad Plumer admits the Solyndra loan process was "irregular" and the scandal surrounding the bankruptcy is legitimate. But he warns against concluding that the solar industry, as a whole, is doomed:
Prices for solar photovoltaic modules continue to tumble, even as fossil-fuel prices rise. A June report by Ernst & Young suggests that large-scale solar could become cost-competitive within a decade, even without government support. Of course, grid operators still have to grapple with the fact that the sun doesn’t always shine, but storage technologies continue to improve — in July, a solar plant in Seville, Spain, achieved continuous 24-hour operation using molten salt storage.
David Roberts hates that Solyndra is being used "to discredit not just the DOE loan program, but all government support for clean energy and indeed clean energy itself."
The Dish 