{{Short description|Defunct Colorado solar panel manufacturer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2013}} {{Infobox company | name = Abound Solar | logo = File:Abound Solar Logo.png | type = Private | genre = | foundation = 2007 | founders = Dr. W.S. Sampath, Al Enzenroth, Kurt Barth | location_city = Loveland, Colorado | location_country = U.S. | location = | locations = | area_served = | key_people = Craig Witsoe <small>(CEO)</small> | industry = Solar Energy | products = Solar panels | services = | revenue = | operating_income = | net_income = | assets = | equity = | owner = | parent = | divisions = | homepage = n/a | footnotes = | intl = }}
'''Abound Solar''' was a manufacturer of cadmium telluride modules–a thin-film photovoltaic technology–based in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |title=Abound Solar, Inc. |work=The Business Week |date= February 26, 2010 |url=http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=44521150 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120929001253/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=44521150 |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 29, 2012 |access-date=2010-02-26 }}</ref> It operated a production facility in Longmont, Colorado. The company was incorporated as AVA Solar in 2007 and was rebranded as Abound Solar in March 2009. In 2012 the company laid off almost half its employees before suspending operations and filing for bankruptcy.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_21918799/bankrupt-abound-solar-colo-lives-political-football | work=Denver Post | first1=Steve | last1=Raabe | first2=Mark | last2=Jaffe | title=Bankrupt Abound Solar of Colo. lives on as political football | date=November 4, 2012 | access-date=January 21, 2013 | archive-date=April 19, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419085935/http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_21918799/bankrupt-abound-solar-colo-lives-political-football | url-status=live }}</ref>
==History== Abound Solar's founders began researching thin-film deposition since the late 1980s. In 1991, W.S. Sampath, a professor at Colorado State University,<ref>{{cite press release |title=Professor and Co-founder of Abound Solar honored with Innovative Excellence Award |publisher=Colorado State University |date=February 12, 2010 |url=http://www.today.colostate.edu/story.aspx?id=3165 |access-date=2010-02-26 |archive-date=June 10, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610040946/http://www.today.colostate.edu/story.aspx?id=3165 |url-status=live }}</ref> patented a process for low-cost metal deposition within a vacuum. Al Enzenroth, Kurt Barth,<ref>{{cite web |title= Founder and Chief Technologist of Abound Solar to Speak at Colorado State University Tuesday, Feb. 16 |publisher= Colorado State University |date= February 3, 2010 |url= http://www.news.colostate.edu/Release/5013 |access-date= 2010-02-26 |archive-date= June 9, 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100609214010/http://www.news.colostate.edu/Release/5013 |url-status= dead }}</ref> Professor Sampath settled upon cadmium telluride (CdTe) as the ideal photovoltaic material for low-cost solar module production.
By 1998, the team had developed a pilot production process featuring an inline, single-vacuum semiconductor deposition tool. Over the course of the next few years, the team continued to develop and refine the technology with strong support from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the National Science Foundation.
By 2004, the founding team had scaled up the technology glass panels of {{convert|16|by|16|in}} in size. Federal funding from NREL and the Solar America Initiative enabled them to prove the viability of the technology. In 2006, AVA Solar, Inc. was formed with private funding from local angel investors to commercialize the technology.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tiller named CEO of Abound Solar |publisher=Northern Colorado Business Report |date=December 10, 2009 |url=http://www.ncbr.com/article.asp?id=103342 |access-date=2010-02-26 |archive-date=April 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240419102128/https://www.ncbr.com/lander?id=103342 |url-status=live }}</ref>
In early 2007, institutional investors discovered the company and the proprietary manufacturing process that had been developed.<ref>{{cite news |author= Jay Yarow |date=April 14, 2009 |title= Solar Startup Abound Vows To Crush First Solar |journal=Business Insider |url= http://www.businessinsider.com/solar-startup-abound-says-it-will-crush-first-solar-2009-4s |access-date=2010-02-26 }}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |title= Abound Solar Names Tom Tiller New CEO |publisher= Business Wire |date= December 10, 2009 |url= http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20091210005152&newsLang=en |access-date=2010-02-26 }}</ref> Abound received a $400 million in loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy in 2010.<ref name="DOEAudit">[https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2014/04/f15/DOE-IG-0907.pdf Audit Report: The Department of Energy's Loan Guarantee to Abound Solar Manufacturing, LLC] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240311060506/https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2014/04/f15/DOE-IG-0907.pdf |date=March 11, 2024 }}, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Inspector General. Office of Audits and Inspections, April 2014.</ref>
In 2012 the company laid off almost half its employees.<ref>MATTHEW MOSK [https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/abound-solar-lays-off-180-workers/story?id=15816806< Abound Solar Lays off 180] February 29, 2012 ABC News</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abound.com/news/abound-solar-announces-plan-accelerate-production-its-next-generation-high-efficiency-modules/ |title=Abound Solar Announces Plan to Accelerate Production of its Next Generation High-Efficiency Modules |access-date=May 27, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120409174333/http://www.abound.com/news/abound-solar-announces-plan-accelerate-production-its-next-generation-high-efficiency-modules |archive-date=April 9, 2012 }}</ref> On June 28, 2012, Abound Solar announced that it would suspend operations and file for bankruptcy protection.<ref name=powerengineering280612>{{cite news |url= http://www.power-eng.com/articles/2012/06/abound-solar-to-file-for-bankruptcy-cease-operations.html |title= Abound Solar to file for bankruptcy, cease operations |publisher= PennWell Corporation |newspaper= Power Engineering |date= June 28, 2012 |access-date= 2012-06-29 |archive-date= April 18, 2024 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240418182146/https://www.power-eng.com/news/ |url-status= live }}</ref> Abound filed for bankruptcy in July 2012.<ref name="DOEAudit"/>
==Technology== Abound Solar produced cadmium telluride thin-film solar modules using a proprietary closed-space sublimation technology developed at Colorado State University.<ref>{{cite press release |title= Abound, U.S. solar startup, takes on First Solar |work=Forbes|agency= Reuters |date=2009-04-19 |author = Nichola Groom |url= https://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2009/04/14/afx6286076.html |access-date=2010-02-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110422130044/http://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2009/04/14/afx6286076.html|archive-date=2011-04-22}}</ref>
==Production== In April 2008, Abound Solar took possession of a Longmont, Colorado-area building previously used by Applied Films. Within weeks preparations were made to renovate the facility and construct the largest thin-film solar module manufacturing facility in the United States.<ref>{{cite journal |author= Gargi Chakrabarty |date= April 14, 2009 |title= Longmont solar plant unveiled |journal= The Denver Post |url= http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_12139570 |access-date= 2010-02-26 |archive-date= April 19, 2024 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240419102315/https://secure.adnxs.com/ttj?ttjb=1&bdc=1713522193&bdh=LutQrEqXBzlmukn4NZlG6m84Jyc.&&bdref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.denverpost.com%2F2009%2F04%2F14%2Flongmont-solar-plant-unveiled%2F&bdtop=true&bdifs=1&bstk=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.denverpost.com%2F2009%2F04%2F14%2Flongmont-solar-plant-unveiled%2F,https%3A%2F%2Fwww.denverpost.com%2F2009%2F04%2F14%2Flongmont-solar-plant-unveiled%2F&&id=28334193 |url-status= live }}</ref>
==Environmental controversy== In February 2013, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) issued a compliance advisory (an "informal enforcement action") to the company, requiring that it clean up some 2,000 "unsellable" pallets of solar panels containing cadmium, a toxic carcinogen, as well as drums of cadmium-contaminated fluids.<ref name="JaffeFeb2013">Mark Jaffe, [http://www.denverpost.com/2013/02/25/colorado-orders-abound-solar-to-clean-up-hazardous-waste-at-four-sites/ Colorado orders Abound Solar to clean up hazardous waste at four sites] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240419102131/https://www.denverpost.com/2013/02/25/colorado-orders-abound-solar-to-clean-up-hazardous-waste-at-four-sites/ |date=April 19, 2024 }}, ''Denver Post'' (February 25, 2013).</ref> The bankruptcy trustee for the company estimated the cost of the cleanup to be $2.2 million.<ref name="JaffeFeb2013"/> In July 2013, the ''Denver Post'' reported that the cleanup of the hazardous materials had been completed. It also reported that over 70,000 leftover solar panels, which were found to be viable, were shipped to a company called Best Safety Glass in Singapore.<ref name="JaffeJuly2013">Mark Jaffe, [http://www.denverpost.com/ci_23621546/bankrupt-abound-solars-toxic-wastes-cleaned-at-4 Bankrupt Abound Solar's toxic wastes cleaned at 4 Colorado facilities] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240419102133/https://www.denverpost.com/2013/07/08/bankrupt-abound-solars-toxic-wastes-cleaned-at-4-colorado-facilities/ |date=April 19, 2024 }}, ''Denver Post'' (July 8, 2013).</ref>
==See also== *CdTe photovoltaics
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Solar power in the United States}}
Category:Thin-film cell manufacturers Category:Solar energy companies of the United States Category:Manufacturing companies based in Colorado Category:American companies established in 2007 Category:Energy companies established in 2004 Category:Manufacturing companies established in 2004 Category:Renewable resource companies established in 2007 Category:2007 establishments in Colorado Category:Longmont, Colorado