Simple Solar LLC files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

BOULDER – Simple Solar Systems LLC has filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The Boulder-based solar-installation company filed for bankruptcy May 13 and reported owing a total of about $3 million to 90 creditors, said RJ Harrington, the company’s external affairs director.

Simple Solar owes roughly $1.5 million to the top five creditors, according to court documents, with the top two being owed about $450,000 each. The company has about $1 million in assets, Harrington said.

He attributes the bankruptcy filing to the company straying from its core competency: residential and small- to medium-size commercial solar installations. Instead, for much of 2009, the company was focused on utility-scale projects.

“Now we’re getting back to our strength,” Harrington said.

Though the company’s future hinges, in part, on the bankruptcy court judge, Harrington said the company hopes to emerge from bankruptcy by the end of summer. No matter when, though, he said he’s confident the company will emerge.

Simple Solar has until Sept. 10 to submit its reorganization plan, but it plans to do so within the next 90 days, he said.

Since January, the company has been operating lean without credit and prepaying vendors in hopes of staying out of bankruptcy court. Harrington said it wasn’t until about two months ago when a creditor filed a lawsuit against the company that Simple Solar made the decision to file for Chapter 11.

Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection is meant to allow the company time to reorganize and start making a profit while eliminating much of its debt.

Last year, Simple Solar was ranked No. 4 on the Boulder County Business Report’s Mercury 100 list of fastest-growing companies in Boulder and Broomfield counties. The list was based on percent increase in revenue from 2006 to 2008 among companies reporting more than $2 million in annual revenue. Simple Solar went from revenue of $993,425 to $4.2 million over that two-year span.

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