Solar industry bloodbath leads to another bankruptcy

In a statement, the Michigan-based company said it intends to sell its solar power subsidiaries and will continue to operate during the bankruptcy and sale process.

Through its subsidiaries Uni-Solar and Solar Integrated Technologies, the company manufactures flexible silicon solar cells and develops solar projects. The solar collectors can be laid out as sheets on rooftops or integrated into roof tiles.

Energy Conversion Devices was founded in 1960 by Stanford Ovshinsky, a scientist who was also integral to developing nickel metal hydride batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles in the 1990s. That business was sold to BASF this week for $58 million.

The company is filing for bankruptcy protection and will sell off its solar business because it is “burdened by our legacy costs and large amount of convertible debt,” the company’s director of business development told The Wall Street Journal. Energy Conversion Devices also shut down its manufacturing last year to conserve cash, according to Greentech Media.