Sunny optimism about renewable energy’s prospects has rarely been abundant in Washington. But just as the business of clean energy is poised to take off, a cloud of suspicion over the White House’s stimulus support of a photovoltaic manufacturer has engulfed the Capitol and diverted attention from new developments taking shape within the solar industry that are worthy of being championed.
     As covered ad nauseum, the Fremont, CA-based company Solyndra went bankrupt in September after having earlier received a $535 million federal loan guarantee. Last week, the Republican-led Energy and Commerce Committee voted to subpoena documents from the White House relating to the company. Now armed with over 85,000 pages of documents already in its possession, the committee is almost sure to uncover some amount of mini scandals and embarrassing pieces of communications. But what the investigation certainly won’t reveal is the other solar energy story that’s waiting to be noticed out in the light of day. It’s the story of our next great energy resource slowly but surely coming into its own.
     Here then, for the benefit of our Congressmen and anyone else who might care to notice, are four examples of meaningful research and development advancements being made in solar technology right here in the United States. Sunny optimism is a potential side effect, so proceed with caution.