sfgate.com The federal stimulus program that gave bankrupt Solyndra its controversial loan raced to a close Friday, with government officials finalizing $4.7 billion in loan guarantees to renewable power companies at the last possible moment. Facing an end-of-day deadline set by President Obama's stimulus act, the U.S. Department of Energy approved loan guarantees to build three massive solar power plants in California and place solar panels on commercial buildings in 28 states. San Jose's SunPower Corp. won final approval of a $1.2 billion guarantee for its California Valley Solar Ranch, which will blanket a rural stretch of San Luis Obispo County with solar cells. Fremont's Solyndra received the program's first loan - for up to $535 million - in 2009, only to file for bankruptcy on Sept. 5. Since then, the loan program has come under intense scrutiny and criticism, even as Energy Department officials tried to beat Friday's deadline to complete loans. In all, the program awarded about $16 billion in loans and loan guarantees to build wind farms and solar plants, as well as factories to produce turbines, solar cells and advanced biofuel.
