The headline is misleading.  Maybe there was too much dazzle but what went wrong is still a puzzlement.   Still too many unanswered questions like who drove the price of silicon so far up and then so far down?  speculators?  company insiders?  And did DOE secure any rights to the technology in exchange for the loan guarantee?  If so, will it open source them?  If it truly is the better mousetrap as claimed,  I really hope we, through DOE, own a piece of it.

Reporting from Los Angeles and Washington— It was the better mousetrap.

From Silicon Valley to the White House, Solyndra's unique solar panels left everyone gasping for a piece of the action.

Analysts gushed over the cylindrical design, so much more exciting than the dull, flat panels coming out of China. Company executives promised huge revenue, supporting thousands of permanent jobs, while a stream of state and federal politicians toured the Fremont plant, basking in what felt like the glow of the future.

Investors, convinced that Solyndra was the big one, the harbinger of a solar boom, poured more than $1 billion into the company, with the U.S. government guaranteeing 50% more in loans.

Then suddenly, the bottom dropped out last month. In a matter of days, Solyndra ceased operations, plunged into bankruptcy, was raided by the FBI and found itself thrust into a national political firestorm.

Nearly all the attention in the Solyndra case has revolved around the Obama administration's $528-million bad bet, with partisan congressional finger-pointing growing increasingly nasty. But in many ways, Solyndra's tale is one of irrational exuberance, a collective belief unswayed by blown sales projections, yanked IPOs, shuttered factories and fired executives.