Don't underestimate the value of political support by having name recognition. Imagine if instead of Solyndra, the money went to GE or something. The project s

Don't underestimate the value of political support by having name recognition. Imagine if instead of Solyndra, the money went to GE or something. The project still failed, the government still lost the money. But it's a lot easier to sell "We gave the money to this well known company, the project failed, it happens" even though the result is exactly the same.