August 14, 2012. Renewable Energy Corp. ASA (REC), a Norwegian solar company, will stop funding and file for insolvency for its only manufacturing unit in the country after halting production of silicon wafers there. REC Wafer Norway AS's liabilities exceeded its assets by about 1.2 billion kroner ($203 million), making a solvent winding-up of the unit dependent on more money from REC, the Sandvika, Norway-based group said. The company that said it would close the unit expects about 400 million kroner of costs from the bankruptcy. REC is suffering with the strength of the krone along with a slump in prices for the raw material used in solar cells. The shutdowns already have resulted in the firing of 700 employees. Most of the remaining 600 staff at the wafer unit will lose their jobs in the second half of the year. The bankruptcy of REC Wafer Norway won't affect REC's solar and silicon units. The company will continue manufacture polysilicon in the U.S., where it is able to produce at a lower cost than competitors. It also makes solar modules in Singapore