As conventional photovoltaicmodule prices plunged, thin-film companies found themselves under increasing pressure to raise the efficiency of their products and lower manufacturing costs to remain competitive.
Solar panels typically account for only about the third of the cost of a single-axis power plant, thanks to a plunge in photovoltaicmodule prices in recent years.
Solyndra, which was founded in 2005, invented a type of cylindrical solar module that was printed with thin-film photovoltaic cells that used little of the then-expensive polysilicon that forms the heart of conventional solar modules.