Failure of Abound Solar Inc., once a gem of Colorado's clean-tech sector, constitutes a costly blow to the state's prestige and emergence of the "New Energy Economy." But it shouldn't deter support for renewable energy.

Abound, based in Loveland with a manufacturing facility in southwestern Weld County outside Longmont, filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection early this month in Delaware. The move meant elimination of 125 jobs and an end to plans for a second manufacturing facility in Indiana.

Abound began with great promise, taking technology developed at Colorado State University and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to transform ordinary sheet glass into photovoltaic panels. The company received a $400 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy in 2010. At the time, the company anticipated adding 1,500 workers, mainly at a planned plant in Tipton, Indiana.

But the company's bankruptcy means all such dreams have evaporated.

Shades of Solyndra? Not exactly.

Whereas Fremont, Calif.-based Solyndra LLC failed after borrowing $535 million, Abound borrowed $68 million in federally guaranteed funds — far short of the initial $400 million guarantee. Taxpayers still will