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BUSINESS SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

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By DEBORAH SOLOMON And RYAN TRACY

White House officials received assurances from solar-panel maker Solyndra LLC as

recently as May 2011 that its finances were strong, with the company dismissing

concerns raised in media reports that problems were brewing.

Emails released by the White House Friday show the company and its lobbyists

reaching out to the West Wing on several occasions. In May, less than four months

before the company filed for bankruptcy protection, company representative David Miller

told White House official Greg Nelson that "we have good market momentum, the factory

is ramping and our plan puts at cash positive later this year."

Mr. Nelson replied, "Fantastic to hear that business is doing well—keep up the good

work! We're cheering for you."

The emails were released in response to

requests from House Republican

lawmakers who are investigating a $535

million Department of Energy loan

guarantee that Solyndra received in 2009

as part of the Obama administration's

economic stimulus package.

In the wake of its bankruptcy filing,

Solyndra is facing a federal criminal

investigation connected to the guarantee.

Lawmakers have accused the White

House of fast-tracking the loan guarantee

for political reasons, and produced emails earlier this week suggesting the

administration ignored red flags about Solyndra's finances and pressed to guarantee

the loan in part so top officials, including Mr. Obama, could highlight the stimulus

program.

Overall, the emails released Friday show the White House was in close touch with

Solyndra and rooted for the company's success, but they don't provide explicit evidence

in support of allegations raised by the Republican lawmakers.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Friday that politics played no role in the

decision-making process, and that emails released by the White House supported that.

He added that the process was merit-based and run by career officials at the Energy

Department.

"The interest at the White House was in…when that decision would be made, one way or

Sav e Like

Bloomberg News

Tyler Fagrey moves completed cylindrical shapedsolar cell modules at the Solyndra Inc. manufacturingfacility in Fremont, Calif .

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another, so decisions about scheduling an event for the vice president could be made,"

Mr. Carney said.

The Energy Department says Solyndra

ran into trouble unexpectedly when

Chinese manufacturers flooded the

market with cheaper panels.

In an interview, Mr. Miller said his emails

amounted to a "professional courtesy" for

the White House representatives he had

worked with to plan Mr. Obama's visit to

Solyndra in May 2010. "I was

communicating with an individual and not

expecting it to go beyond that," Mr. Miller

said.

Two months after Mr. Obama's visit to Solyndra, the firm brought to the White House's

attention a media report questioning the company's finances. In a July 2010 email to

several White House officials, Mr. Miller called the report "total crap" and said: "We can

assure you we have a path to profitability."

Mr. Nelson, deputy director of the White House office of public engagement, said in an

email the report "seems B.S."

Two days later, Mr. Miller sent a separate email about a story in Barron's, saying he was

"looking forward to the eventual embarrassment being on the Barron's side, not yours."

Solyndra and its lobbyists also reached out to the White House to raise concerns that

the U.S. government was buying solar panels from Chinese makers rather than from

U.S. firms.

"[A]pparently there is an issue with the government buying Chinese panels over U.S.

manufactured ones," a lobbyist for Solyndra wrote in an email requesting a July 2010

meeting with White House environment adviser Carol Browner.

Write to Deborah Solomon at deborah.solomon@wsj.com

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Associated Press

A guard outside Solyndra, in Fremont, Calif., blocked acamera on Friday.

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