Solar energy companies like OptiSolar, Ausra, Heliovolt and SunPower, once darlings of investors, have all had to lay off workers.

曾经的投资者宠儿——太阳能系统公司都必须解雇工人。

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"When you're talking power infrastructure, you're talking thousands of tons of steel and glass and giant turbines," says Peter Le lievre, the co-founder of Ausra.

“当你谈到能源基础设施的时候，你谈论的是数千吨的钢铁、玻璃以及巨大的涡轮机，”Ausra的建立者之一Peter Le lievre说。

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Speaking metaphorically, Ausra business development chief Thomas Bartolomei says, "We have irons in the fire" but no signed deals yet.

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So Ausra is now thinking that maybe coal isn't so bad.

FORBES: A solar project's funding freezes up.

It is developing giant off-shore wind turbines, biomass power plants (including projects in Florida and Washington with Duke Energy), and, with its Ausra acquisition, solar thermal power plants.

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