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Layoffs From Solyndra Shutdown Hundreds More Than Original Report

FREMONT (CBS SF) - Newly-released documents show that nearly 1,900 people lost their jobs when Fremont's Solyndra Solar Panel maker failed last year, hundreds more than the company's initial claim.

The documents, obtained by the Bay Citizen, also show Solyndra ramped up production last year despite sluggish sales.

Solyndra, the first renewable energy company to receive a federal loan under the 2009 stimulus law, went bankrupt last year and left taxpayers on the hook for more than $500 million.

The company's implosion and revelations that Obama administration officials rushed to complete the loan in time for a September 2009 groundbreaking have become an embarrassment for Obama and a rallying cry for GOP critics of his green energy program.

Last month, Mitt Romney stood outside the company's former headquarters in Fremont to decry Solyndra as Exhibit A of presidential missteps on the economy.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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