From pv magazine USA
Residential US solar company SunPower Corp. (Nasdaq: SPWR) has filed for bankruptcy. Nevertheless, the situation doesn't affect the SunPower branded solar panels designed, manufactured, and sold by Maxeon Solar Technologies in Europe and elsewhere outside of the US and Canada. “Other than a product brand name, there is no existing relationship between Maxeon and SunPower Corporation”, a spokesperson from Maxeon Solar told pv magazine. SunPower Corp. and Maxeon separated in August 2020 when Maxeonspun off as an independent company. Maxeon previously had a supply agreement to provide solar panels to SunPower Corp., “but that agreement was terminated in 2023, and since Q1 2024, Maxeon has not been shipping any product to SunPower Corp”, she concludes.
“SunPower has faced a severe liquidity crisis caused by a sharp decline in demand in the solar market and SunPower’s inability to obtain new capital,” said Matthew Henry, chief transformation officer, SunPower.
The residential solar industry in the United States has been struggling over the past two years as rising interest rates and regulatory changes have squeezed the value offered to customers. As demand fell, rising excess inventory posed further challenges for installers.
Industry-wide, installations are down roughly 20% nationwide in 2024. SunPower joins Titan Solar Power and Sunworks as publicly-traded residential solar installers that have gone under this year, along with many smaller installers, particularly in California. However, analysts have cautioned that the industry is not in a tailspin as it may appear.
“SunPower’s travails are emphatically a company-specific issue and should not be seen as a comment on the underlying demand for U.S. residential solar,” Pavel Molchanov, an analyst with Raymond James.
SunPower’s struggles continued through persistent high interest rates. In December 2023 the company defaulted on its debt and issued a warning that it had “going concerns” about remaining in business. In April, the company announced it would close numerous installation service centers across the country and cut about 26% of its workforce.
This July, SunPower communicated to its employees that it will pause several core operations. The company announced it will deactivate its lease and power purchase agreement offerings and will discontinue new product shipments.
SunPower will now sell its assets, including installation company Blue Raven Solar and its new homes unit to Complete Solaria, Inc. for $45 million. The company requested courts approve the deal by late September.
SunPower was one of the longest-running solar businesses in the United States, formed in 1985. The company spun off its manufacturing business in 2020 to focus more squarely on rooftop solar as demand surged. Since then, demand cooled considerably, and, under a high interest rate environment, the strategy proved fatal for the company.
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