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SoloPower executives say the company is close to securing an investment to restart production at its North Portland manufacturing hub near the Port of Portland.
(The Oregonian/file photo)
State officials are drafting a notice of default after SoloPower Systems Inc. this week missed its
in as many months on the $10 million energy loan that helped fund its startup in North Portland.
Since February, the idled solar-panel company has paid just 12 percent of the balance due to the state, leaving it $213,950 in the red. But its top executive remained insistent Thursday that the company expects to comply with loan terms "shortly," after
"Our fundraising activities are progressing well," President Robert Campbell said in an email to The Oregonian.
Oregon lenders say they are not banking on Campbell's optimism, or the combined $30,000 that SoloPower wired to the state last month.
Officials at the Oregon Energy Department have asked state attorneys to write a letter of default, said spokeswoman Diana Enright. SoloPower will then have 30 days to pay off the past-due balance before the state proceeds with foreclosure. The state has a lien on SoloPower's factory equipment and lease.
The North Marine Drive factory shuttered in June, less than a year after a ribbon-cutting ceremony studded with public officials. The company then
attached the word "Systems" to its name, and moved out of its San Jose, Calif., headquarters.
Campbell said last month that the company is closing in on funding to restart production.
But those efforts have taken longer than expected. State officials agreed in July to stall loan payments for six months while executives sought a new investor. That window closed in February, and another $119,000 payment came due. Enright has said the Energy Department turned down SoloPower's request for more time.
The loan is backed in part by the city of Portland, where officials guaranteed $5 million of the funding in 2011 to lure SoloPower's new factory away from Wilsonville. The state has also issued $20 million in Business Energy Tax Credits to SoloPower, which hasn't met the hiring and production levels required in exchange.
SoloPower has said that it was able to line up
as the larger investment comes together, but Campbell has declined to disclose details of either deal.
--Molly Young