Bloomington-based Ten K Solar announced it would be “discontinuing” operations due to a global glut in solar panel production, which has pushed prices down and hurt the solar panel manufacturer’s ability to turn a profit.
 
“The most-recent 18 months have proven to be difficult for companies in the solar industry,” Ten K said in a statement. “Ten K Solar has not been immune to those difficulties as significant price pressures and scale have proved a significant barrier to profitable growth.”
 
The price of solar modules fell more than 30 percent over the course of 2016, Ten K said.
 
The announcement was something of a surprise, given big-time investments poured into the company just a year ago. At the start of 2016, Goldman Sachs led a $25 million equity investment round for Ten K—the company’s largest ever.
 
The company raised over $60 million since it was founded in 2008. Its sales doubled (or more) for the three years leading up to 2016.
 
Ten K’s annual sales topped $50 million and approximately 200 people were employed at the company, according to the Star Tribune.
 
PV Tech, a publication focused on the energy industry, noted that the company’s “winding down” process would likely be completed this summer or fall.
 
Ten K has not responded to media requests on the specifics of its plan, including how the changes would affect employees—90 of whom work in Bloomington.
 
In its announcement, Ten K has said it would work to “reposition the business to live within the constraints” of the challenging solar marketplace.