Sunnova Files for Bankruptcy on Residential Solar Woes

By Reuters

(Reuters) – Sunnova Energy said on Sunday it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States, as the residential solar panel installer buckled under the pressure of mounting debt and weakening demand.

Shares were down 36.4% at 14 cents in premarket trading.

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Sunnova filed for protection in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas after warning in March that it might not be able to continue as a going concern.

The company listed its estimated assets and liabilities in the range of $10 billion to $50 billion and has a total debt of $10.67 billion as of December 31, according to a court filing.

Sunnova said last week it would lay off about 55% of its workforce, or 718 employees, in a bid to cut spending.

Earlier this month, its unit, Sunnova TEP Developer, had also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The company’s bankruptcy filing comes at a time when the U.S. residential solar energy industry is under immense pressure from higher interest rates; a reduction in incentives in the top market, California; and fears of subsidy rollbacks for clean energy.

Line chart showing Sunnova’s share performance

President Donald Trump’s administration, which is pushing to maximize oil and gas production, canceled a partial loan guarantee of $2.92 billion last month that was awarded to Sunnova by the Biden administration.

Last year, peer SunPower , once a pioneer of the U.S. residential solar market, also collapsed following a subpoena from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission about its accounting practices and the departure of its CEO.

Companies that put solar panels on U.S. homes said last month a Republican budget bill that has advanced in Congress could deal a massive blow to the industry by eliminating a generous subsidy for homeowners that had buttressed the industry’s growth.

Reporting by Tanay Dhumal and Angela Christy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli, Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Anil D’Silva