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Money-losing solar inverter maker Satcon Technology Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday, squeezed by falling demand after top consumer Europe lowered subsidies for renewable energy, Reuters reported yesterday. Shares of the company, which had a market value of $6.32 million as of Tuesday close, fell 77 percent to 7.3 cents in morning trade on the Nasdaq. The company has lost 93 percent of its market value since the beginning of the year to Tuesday. Average selling prices for inverters have fallen by about a fifth this year. Satcon, which makes inverters that help feed solar-generated power into the grid, said in January that it would cut about 35 percent of its workforce and close its Canadian plant. The Boston-based company has reported a loss for 22 consecutive quarters.

A123 Systems, which had received a $249 million grant from the U.S. government, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday, Reuters reported. The filing came after the lithium-ion battery maker's $465 million rescue deal with Chinese auto parts supplier Wanxiang Group collapsed, hobbled by "unanticipated and significant challenges," A123 said. A123 has agreed to sell its automotive operations, including two factories in Michigan, for $125 million to Johnson Controls Inc., a leading battery supplier and another recipient of federal green subsidies. The U.S. Department of Energy allotted about $90 billion for various clean-energy programs through the administration's stimulus package. Of that, at least $813 million went to energy companies that eventually filed for bankruptcy, including A123, Solyndra, Beacon, Abound Solar and EnerDel.

Bankrupt solar power company Solyndra LLC is asking a bankruptcy judge to confirm its proposed reorganization plan over objections from government attorneys, the Associated Press reported yesterday. Solyndra lawyers said yesterday in court documents that the plan meets legal requirements for confirmation. Lawyers also addressed and rejected Internal Revenue Service and Department of Energy objections. The IRS had previously said in court documents that the plan's principal purpose is tax avoidance. The Department of Energy, which loaned Solyndra $528 million, claimed that the plan fails to protect DOE's $30 million interest in pre-bankruptcy collateral. The plan allows for two private equity funds that control Solyndra to potentially reap hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks after Solyndra emerges from bankruptcy, using net operating losses. The hearing on the plan is set for tomorrow.

Eastman Kodak Co. said that it will begin discussions with various creditor groups on a reorganization plan to emerge from bankruptcy protection, Reuters reported on Friday. The company said in a court filing that it expects revenue of $833 million for 2013 from its commercial imaging digital printing business and $1.72 billion from its commercial imaging graphics, entertainment & commercial films. Kodak said that there is interest from various parties in its commercial imaging business and interest among several potential lenders to finance the business.

Bankrupt solar firm Solyndra has filed a lawsuit against three U.S.-listed Chinese solar players, including Suntech Power Holdings Co, seeking $1.5 billion in compensation due to monopolization by these firms, Reuters reported on Friday. The lawsuit was filed against Suntech, Trina Solar Ltd and Yingli Green Energy Holding Co claiming that the trio's panel prices moved in tandem - falling 75 percent in four years in the U.S. Solyndra, which claims in the lawsuit that the trio were involved in predatory pricing and price fixing, filed for bankruptcy a year ago as it could no longer compete with plunging prices of solar panels imported from China. U.S. solar companies launched a complaint last year alleging protectionism from Beijing for Chinese panel makers, sparking trade disputes between the two countries.

The Labor Department has rejected aid packages for Abound Solar Inc. workers at the Colorado company in four locations, the Washington Times. Notices for three of the determinations were published late last week in the Federal Register. In each case, the Labor Department decided against doling out special government aid for workers who were displaced by foreign competition. While officials previously certified assistance packages for Solyndra workers, the Labor Department said that imports of products competing with Abound's products had not increased enough to make workers eligible for the aid. Though both were solar-panel makers, Abound and Solyndra made different products, even as their bankruptcies linked them in political headlines.

Communications company Broadview Networks Holdings Inc . received bankruptcy-court approval on Wednesday of a chapter 11 restructuring plan that will cut its debt in half, Dow Jones DBR Small Cap reported today. The bankruptcy court approval comes just six weeks after Broadview filed for bankruptcy with this noteholder-supported plan, which hands senior secured noteholders, owed $317 million, 97.5 percent equity in the reorganized company and issues them $150 million in new notes.

Troubled wireless company FiberTower Corp . got approval from Bankruptcy Judge Michael D. Lynn to hold a bankruptcy auction Nov. 5 to sell its business, which routes cell phone calls through its towers and claims to hold a license for a massive chunk of wireless channel spectrum in major cities, Dow Jones DBR Small Cap reported today. Under the timeline approved by Judge Lynn, FiberTower executives will look for bids until Nov. 1 and return to court with the outcome Nov. 6. The San Francisco-based company said that it is selling virtually all of its equipment, licenses and permits.

Eastman Kodak Co. said that it plans to stop selling inkjet printers by 2013 as it winds down most of its consumer businesses and focuses on commercial printing, Reuters reported on Friday. Kodak, which has already shuttered its digital camera business, said on Friday that it expects to incur a charge of $90 million related to the wind-down of the inkjet business. The company will, however, continue to sell ink to existing customers of inkjet printers. The company said that it expects to cut 200 more jobs, adding to the 1,000 announced earlier this month. It has cut 2,700 jobs so far this year.

Contec Holdings Ltd., the cable-box repair company owned by Bain Capital Partners, is seeking approval of its plan to slash its $360 million debt load and exit chapter 11 protection, Dow Jones Newswires reported on Friday. Under the plan, which is subject to the approval of a bankruptcy judge, senior lenders led by units of Barclays PLC would take the majority of the new equity in the restructured Contec as well as $27.5 million in new second-lien term notes. Subordinated noteholders owed $159 million would get warrants to purchase new shares, while unsecured trade creditors would get cash. In addition to supporting Contec's restructuring plan, certain senior lenders have put up $35 million in bankruptcy financing and agreed to provide a $25 million bankruptcy exit loan.