Note 11 - Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Text Block]

11. Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

Goodwill

The carrying value of goodwill was $5.2 million at December 31, 2011, all of which was allocated to the Company’s single reportable segment. Of this balance, $4.7 million reflected the balance of Solar Power, Inc. carried by its parent company, LDK, as required under the accounting guidelines for a transfer of an entity under common control (refer to Note 5— Acquisition of Solar Green Technology). The Company evaluated the carrying value of its goodwill at December 31, 2011, and determined that no impairment of goodwill was identified. During the three months ended September 30, 2012, due primarily to the recent reduction in the Company’s market capitalization, the Company’s market value was significantly below its book value, thus triggering an impairment analysis. As a result of this analysis, the Company recorded a goodwill impairment charge of $5.2 million. As a result, the balance of goodwill as of December 31, 2012 was zero.

Other Intangible Assets

Resulting from the June 2012 SGT acquisition, reflected in the Consolidated Balance Sheets of the Company are certain intangible assets, namely patent and customer relationships, and related amortization expense from March 31, 2011 forward. During the three months ended December 31, 2012, the Company determined that the carrying value of certain intangible assets related to customer relationships were no longer recoverable based on a discrete evaluation of the nature of the intangible assets, incorporating the effect of the Company’s recent decision to no longer maintain the customer relationships. As a result, the Company recorded an impairment charge of $0.1 million on its Consolidated Statement of Operations for the year ended December 31, 2012 and the balance of intangible assets as of December 31, 2012 was $1.7 million.

Other intangible assets consisted of the following (in thousands):

	Useful Life (in months)	Gross		Impairment Charge			Accumulated Amortization			Net
As of December 31, 2012
Patent	57	$	2,700	$	-		$	(997	)	$	1703
Customer relationships	33		400		(148	)		(252	)		0
		$	3,100	$	(148	)	$	(1,249	)	$	1,703

As of December 31, 2011 (1)
Patent	57	$	2,700	$	-		$	(426	)	$	2,274
Customer relationships	33		400		-			(109	)		291
		$	3,100	$	-		$	(535	)	$	2,565

(1)	As adjusted to reflect the balances of Solar Power, Inc. beginning March 31, 2011, at the carrying value of LDK as required under the accounting guidelines for a transfer of an entity under common control (refer to Note 5 —Acquisition of Solar Green Technology).

As of December 31, 2012, the estimated future amortization expense related to other intangible assets is as follows (in thousands):

	Amount
Year
2013	$	570
2014		570
2015		563
2016		-
	$	1,703

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the aggregate amount of goodwill and a description of intangible assets, which may include (a) for amortizable intangible assets (also referred to as finite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, the amount of any significant residual value, and the weighted-average amortization period, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization (also referred to as indefinite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, and (c) the amount of research and development assets acquired and written off in the period, including the line item in the income statement in which the amounts written off are aggregated, if not readily apparent from the income statement. Also discloses (a) for amortizable intangibles assets in total and by major class, the gross carrying amount and accumulated amortization, the total amortization expense for the period, and the estimated aggregate amortization expense for each of the five succeeding fiscal years, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization the carrying amount in total and by major class, and (c) for goodwill, in total and for each reportable segment, the changes in the carrying amount of goodwill during the period (including the aggregate amount of goodwill acquired, the aggregate amount of impairment losses recognized, and the amount of goodwill included in the gain (loss) on disposal of a reporting unit). If any part of goodwill has not been allocated to a reportable segment, discloses the unallocated amount and the reasons for not allocating. For each impairment loss recognized related to an intangible asset (excluding goodwill), discloses: (a) a description of the impaired intangible asset and the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method for determining fair value, (c) the caption in the income statement or the statement of activities in which the impairment loss is aggregated, and (d) the segment in which the impaired intangible asset is reported. For each goodwill impairment loss recognized, discloses: (a) a description of the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method of determining the fair value of the associated reporting unit, and (c) if a recognized impairment loss is an estimate not finalized and the reasons why the estimate is not final. May also disclose the nature and amount of any significant adjustments made to a previous estimate of an impairment loss.

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