These three U.S.-based solarcell makers went out of business because they could not lower their costs enough to make a profit when faced with competition from Chinese companies.
That is not great compared with the 20% and more achieved by a silicon-based solarcell, the 40% managed by a solar-thermal turbine, or even the 18-20% of one of the new generation of cheap and cheerful thin-film solar cells.
Such big projects make sense for large solar-cell producers like SunPower and Arizona-based First Solar, since they provide reliable demand with which to keep their manufacturing plants running at peak efficiency.