The company, which installs photovoltaic systems for private households, has filed for bankruptcy due to a severe liquidity crisis. It is one of the largest in a series of bankruptcy announcements in the industry. Maxeon sells its solar modules outside the USA under the “Sunpower” brand and now emphasizes that there are otherwise no connections between the companies.
7 August 2024 Sandra Enkhardt and Ryan Kennedy
von pv magazine USA
The photovoltaic company Sunpower has filed for bankruptcy. “Sunpower found itself in a severe liquidity crisis caused by a sharp decline in demand in the solar market and Sunpower’s inability to raise new capital,” said Matthew Henry, Chief Transformation Officer at SunPower.
The residential solar industry in the U.S. has struggled over the past two years as rising interest rates and regulatory changes have reduced the value of solar PV systems for customers. Declining demand has posed further challenges to the growing pool of installers.
This is affecting the entire industry — for example, new installations in the US are expected to fall by about 20 percent this year. Sunpower is one of the publicly traded residential rooftop installers that have gone under this year, along with Titan Solar Power and Sunworks, as have many smaller installers, particularly in California. However, analysts have pointed out that the industry has not been as badly hit as it might seem.
“Sunpower’s difficulties are clearly a company-specific issue and should not be seen as a commentary on the underlying demand for residential solar energy in the U.S.,” said Pavel Molchanov, an analyst at Raymond James. Sunpower’s problems continued due to persistently high interest rates. In December 2023, the company defaulted on its debt and issued a warning that it had “concerns” about the company’s continued existence. In April, the company announced that it would close numerous installation and service centers across the country and lay off about 26 percent of its workforce.
In July 2024, SunPower notified employees that it would be discontinuing several core businesses. The company announced that it would stop offering leasing and power purchase agreements, as well as discontinuing deliveries of new products.
Sunpower will now sell its assets, including its installation business Blue Raven Solar and new home business, to Complete Solaria, Inc. for $45 million. The company requested court approval of the agreement by the end of September.
Sunpower was one of the longest-running solar companies in the United States. It was founded in 1985. In 2020, the company spun off its manufacturing business to focus more on rooftop solar power amid rising demand. Since then, demand has cooled significantly, and in a high-interest environment, this strategy proved fatal for the company.
Maxeon Solar Technologies was created as a result of the spin-off of the manufacturing business. The company sells its solar modules under the “Sunpower” brand in Europe and other countries outside the USA and Canada. “Apart from a product brand name, there is no relationship between Maxeon and Sunpower Corporation,” Maxeon clarified in the bankruptcy filing. They are two separate publicly traded companies. “We have separate ownership structures and operate independently. Maxeon previously had a solar module supply agreement with Sunpower Corp., but this was terminated in 2023, and since the first quarter of 2024, Maxeon has no longer supplied products to Sunpower Corp.,” says Maxeon’s statement provided to pv magazine.
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