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AVA Solar later rebranded as Abound Solar and outfitted a plant near Longmont capable of producing 200 megawatts of solar panels annually. To spur production, Abound raised additional venture capital financing, bringing its total raised to $260 million, and applied for a loan from the Department of Energy's Loan Guarantee Program. Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter hand-delivered two letters of support for Abound to Steven Chu, head of the DOE.

By last year, Abound ramped up to 400 employees -- including 90-plus temporary workers -- at its 9586 Interstate 25 Frontage Road

plant, where it produced panels with 10.5 percent efficiency ratings.

However, the efficiency rating quickly appeared it would be trumped by thin-film competitor PrimeStar Solar, an Arvada-based subsidiary of General Electric, said Seth Masia, editor at Solar Today, the magazine of the Boulder-based American Solar Energy Society. PrimeStar achieved 12.8 percent efficiency and projected that the next generation of modules would operate at 14 percent efficiency, Masia said.

"Unfortunately, what we have here is a situation where the (industry) has become so competitive that if you have last year's technology, you're not going to be able to sell your product," he said.

Aside from the deep-pocketed thin-film players such as GE and the publicly traded First Solar, Abound also was affected by highly subsidized Chinese crystalline silicon-based panel manufacturers that have flooded the U.S. market with products, putting downward pressure on pricing, he said.

Masia said he expects China eventually will establish a monopoly in the silicon-based panel sector. If that becomes the case, prices would rise and allow for the less expensive thin-film products to compete on a more level playing field.

"I don't think anybody would've anticipated that the Chinese government would've opened a credit line of $40 billion to build solar factories," he said.

The U.S. government has made moves to address China's actions in the domestic market.

In response to complaints issued by U.S.-based solar panel manufacturers, the Commerce Department last month issued preliminary import duties of as much as 4.73 percent on solar panels made by Chinese companies.

Even steeper tariffs could be enacted in May, if the Department of Commerce determines that China is "dumping" panels in the U.S. market. In economics, dumping involves the exporting of goods at a price below the manufacturing cost or what is charged in the exporting country.

Creating the 'next generation'

Abound's CEO is confident that the company's "next-generation" technology will keep the firm competitive not only with thin-film players such as First Solar and GE's PrimeStar, but also Chinese firms.

"Keep in mind that 90 percent of the market is not thin-film," said Craig Witsoe, Abound's president and chief executive officer, in an interview with the Camera. "Ninety percent of the market is (crystalline silicon panels) by Chinese companies. Even though they have dumped prices in the U.S. market and are selling below their cost, they can't do that forever."

In January, Abound produced several hundred 85-watt modules that registered a 12.5 percent efficiency rating through National Renewable Energy Laboratory tests, he said. Abound is in the process of preparing its local facility for mass production.