Heavily Subsidised Solar Company Bails on Massachusetts, Files for Bankruptcy

A solar panel factory in Devens, MA which was held up by the Patrick Adminsitration as a model 'green business' and recieved $58 million in financial aid from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has filed for bankruptcy on Monday.

Evergreen Solar [NASDAQ: ESLR] announced earlier this year that they were closing their Devens facility and shifting production to Wuhan China.

In January, after Evergreen announced it would close the Devens factory, Patrick told the Herald he was disappointed in the job losses but did not regret making the investment.

“I think we did what we could have and should have,” he told the Herald.

In March, during a state Senate hearing that explored the value of tax incentives for Bay State businesses, Evergreen CEO Michael El-Hillow said the company had “earned” 85 percent of the taxpayer benefits it received because of the jobs it originally created.

Evergreen warned investors back in April that it was burning through cash because of slow sales, falling solar-panel prices and weak proceeds from the sale of Devens factory assets.

“Chapter 11 will provide Evergreen Solar with the ability to maximize returns for our stakeholders through the proposed sale process,” El-Hillow said in a statement. “Importantly, we expect to continue our technology development without interruption during Chapter 11 and the sale process.”

Shares of Evergreen have been trading so low this year that they're in danger of being de-listed from the NASDAQ.

The quasi-public state run MassDevelopment is among the top creditors and is owed $1.5 million by Evergreen.