We take a look at the clean technology companies that have raised the most venture funding in the last few years. Overall, it is not light and pleasant reading.

The Loveland, Colo., company announced on its Web site today that it ceased operations and intended to file for bankruptcy next week, laying off its 125 employees. Abound is another victim of the sharp decline in the price of solar modules.

Mitt Romney’s campaign jaunt last week to Solyndra’s shuttered headquarters and Konarka’s Chapter 7 filing drew attention to the solar industry’s most high-profile failures. But a look at recent funding data indicates that, if anything, venture investors in the solar sector are still pretty bullish.

(Reuters) – Solyndra LLC failed to attract any bids on Tuesday from buyers who could have restarted production, brought back some laid off staff and kept the bankrupt solar panel maker operating, according to a company adviser. Solyndra, which owes more than $500 million to the U.S. government, has said a turnkey buyer is the [...]

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A House of Representatives panel voted on Thursday to subpoena the White House for emails and other documents related to a $535 million loan to Solyndra, the solar panel maker that went bankrupt and was raided by the FBI, Reuters reported. The subcommittee vote in the Republican-controlled House means the White House — unless it invokes executive privilege — may be asked to release a broad range of emails, including any received about Solyndra on President Barack Obama’s personal Blackberry, Reuters wrote.

The very public (and political) failure of Solyndra left a bunch of venture firms with black eyes, but the solar company’s bankruptcy didn’t hurt fundraising efforts for at least one of its backers: Redpoint Ventures. The Silicon Valley venture firm has raised $400 million for its “Redpoint Omega” fund, which will target growth companies. That’s considerably more [...]

You just love to look at yourself, don’t you? Photos of our recent San Francisco Shindig were by far the most popular post on peHUB this week, judging by pageviews from our regular readers. Other top posts included Connecticut’s biggest hits and misses with PE and VC investments, Ben Smith’s take on entrepreneurship and Halsey Minor’s reflections on Steve Jobs.

ONE: Shindig Photos: Lookin’ Good, San Francisco! – by Lawrence Aragon
TWO: Connecticut’s Biggest PE/VC Hits and Misses (slideshow) – by David Toll
THREE: Ben Smith: There’s More to the Startup Game than a Post-Exit Payday. It’s Called Fishing – by Ben Smith
FOUR: SLIDESHOW: Ivy League Endowments – Who Did Best In FY2011? (subscribers only) – by Gregory Roth
FIVE: Ex-Houlihan Bankers Launch Firm to Target Technology & Services Companies in D.C. – by Luisa Beltran
SIX: Woof! Woof! The 10 Biggest Dogs in UTIMCO’s Portfolio (slideshow) (subscribers only) – by Lawrence Aragon
SEVEN: Halsey Minor: What Steve Jobs Taught Me – by Halsey Minor
EIGHT: Lynn Tilton Didn’t Get Her Reality Show But Will Be on 20/20 This Week – by Luisa Beltran
NINE: Q3 VC Deals Surge in NY, Texas and Northwest, But Falter in New England, LA and Midwest (slideshow) – by Mark Boslet
TEN: RockPort Feels Pain from Betting Big on Solyndra, Going ‘All In’ on Cleantech – by Nichola Groom and Sarah McBride, Reuters

(Reuters) – David Prend is one of the most respected investors in green technology — but even he picks some losers.

Like the Department of Energy, Prend thought Solyndra, an innovative solar company, was a good bet. His venture capital firm, RockPort Capital, began investing in the company three years before the federal government gave the startup a loan guarantee. RockPort eventually put more than $63.5 million into Solyndra.

As revealed in emails released by the White House, Prend, who sat on the company’s board, also touted the company to President Barack Obama’s staff as a stellar example of green job creation and urged the president to visit its California plant.

But the Solyndra bet went bad — for Prend, the DOE, and other investors such as Henry Kravis and Richard Branson. That’s not so unusual in the field of green tech. A closer look at Prend’s portfolio …

WASHINGTON, Oct 6 (Reuters) – The Obama administration said on Thursday its top energy loans official was stepping down, following a widening probe into the embarrassing collapse of a solar panel company that got $535 million in federal support. Jonathan Silver, a venture capitalist who had also worked for the Clinton administration, was leaving because [...]