In a new twist to both the sagas over Solyndra’s demise and the trade war between the US and China over dumping of solar modules, the bankrupt firm has filed an anti-trust case against the largest PV module manufacturer, Suntech Power Holdings, in the US district court, Northern District of California.

The case, Solyndra LLC v. Suntech Power Holdings Ltd., 12-05272 is claiming that Chinese module manufacturers including Suntech ran an illegal cartel that also involved China-based polysilicon producers, financial institutions and Chinese government agencies that allowed below-cost modules to be sold in the US.

As a result, Solyndra went into bankruptcy and now seeks significant compensation. According to Bloomberg, lawyers for Solyndra put a US$1.5 billion price tag on the Solyndra business value before its demise.

The law suit was filed the same day that the US Commerce Department announced its final determination on imposing anti-dumping and countervailing duties against Chinese manufacturers of solar cells.

Update

A report noted that plans by Solyndra to divvy remaining funds to creditors would be put forward to the bankruptcy court next week that involve two of the investment firms that backed the failed start-up, Argonaut Ventures I LLC and Madrone Partners LP.

The report notes that the two firms had been bankrolling Solyndra during its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings as well as needing to operate a shell company to get existing tax benefits allocated to Solyndra. 

What wasn’t clear was whether the lawsuit filed by Solyndra against Suntech and other Chinese module manufacturers was instigated by the investment firms.