Solyndra scrambled to find a financial life preserver to salvage its fortunes just hours before it closed its doors last week, the solar energy company disclosed Tuesday in a bankruptcy filing.

Fremont-based Solyndra listed $783.8 million in secured debts and $859 million in assets, according to the filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. The debts include $527.8 million the company owes to the Federal Financing Bank and the U.S. Department of Energy.

The news comes amid increasing pressure — primarily in the form of a proposed class-action complaint — on Solyndra because of the way it abruptly dismissed its 1,100 employees without formal warning. The class action, filed by Morgan Hill resident Peter Kohlstadt, demands that Solyndra pay the employees 60 days of wages and benefits. Politicians, including U.S. Rep. Pete Stark, D-Fremont, have blasted the company for the way in which it treated its workers.

The bankruptcy filing makes it clear Solyndra executives spent several weeks in a desperate bid for money to keep operating. Late-night talks the day before the shutdown proved fruitless, according to court records and company officials. Lenders finally told Solyndra it wouldn’t get the vital financing, according to a court filing by W.G. Stover, Solyndra’s chief financial officer.

When the last-minute gambits to rescue Solyndra fell through Aug. 30, company executives determined they had little choice but to pull the plug on the once-sparkling business. The next morning, Aug. 31, Solyndra halted operations.

The company, which received $535 million in loan guarantees from the Energy Department and $1.1 billion from private venture capitalists, says it will scout for a buyer in the coming weeks. If it can’t find one, it will attempt to sell its assets in chunks.

“The debtors intend to pursue all potential turnkey buyers, specifically interested parties in both the United States and overseas who may have a particular interest in acquiring the debtors’ business,” Stover told the court.

Solyndra’s high-profile meltdown has sparked debates on multiple fronts. The overall health of the solar energy industry in the United States is in question. What’s more, congressional critics have begun to scrutinize why the federal government picked Solyndra to receive loan guarantees from the federal government.

“We have always recognized that not every one of the innovative companies supported by our loans and loan guarantees would succeed,” said Dan Leistikow, an Energy Department spokesman. “But we can’t stop investing in game-changing technologies.”

President Barack Obama, during a May 2010 visit to Solyndra’s Fremont complex, touted the company as a shining example of how the green energy industry could evolve into a major part of the nation’s energy future.

Yet the company steadily bled red ink. For example, during 2010, Solyndra lost $329 million on sales of $142 million, according to the bankruptcy filing.

Left in the lurch with the company’s closing were the employees who lost their jobs and received no severance or accrued vacation pay.

“Solyndra treated people poorly,” Kohlstadt said. “Solyndra was always hush-hush. There was never any talk of the company shutting down. The employees feel they should have been told.”

Kohlstadt, a Solyndra engineer when he lost his job, filed the class action in the U.S. District Court of Northern California on Friday night. With some exceptions, state and federal laws oblige a company to file advance notice of the elimination of 50 or more employees or of the shutdown of a facility. It is unclear if Solyndra met the criteria for an exception.

“It was devastating. There was no warning at all,” said Matthew Henry, a Campbell resident who had worked for Solyndra for three years. It was completely unexpected for myself and the other employees.”

“We knew that things were tough for Solyndra,” said Lindsey Eastburn, an engineer for the company and a Pleasanton resident. “But it still came as a shock.”

Stark, the East Bay Democrat, demanded that the company provide the dismissed workers with the two months of pay and benefits.

“These hardworking people were put out on the street without warning,” Stark said. “You owe it to each of them to provide this minimal compensation at a very difficult time.”

Solyndra said it didn’t want to comment specifically about the lawsuit. The company further believes it didn’t have to file a formal heads-up about the layoffs through a document known as a WARN notice.

The company has since filed a WARN notice to cover 900 workers, primarily the full-time staff. What’s described as a core group of 113 employees remains on duty to provide administrative office and support services for ongoing operations.

Employees now are setting about the task to find jobs. The day after Eastburn lost his job at Solyndra, he landed another job with San Jose-based Applied Micro Structures.

“I was fortunate,” Eastburn said. “But a lot of people who were employed in production may have a harder time finding a job.”

Contact George Avalos at 925-977-8477. Follow him at Twitter.com/george_avalos.