Sunnova Declares Bankruptcy

“Profuse government grants, loans, and tax breaks supported Sunnova from the beginning. The public needs to know where the money went and why founder/CEO John Berger and a few others at the top made out like bandits, while just about everyone else bit the dust.”

Sunnova was all hat, no cattle. All sizzle, no steak. Long on DEI, short on profits. Long on government, short on consumer value.

And a lot of ‘Net Zero” for investors. And potentially voided contracts for more than 400,000 rooftop customers if tax credits go away under current legislation under debate. [1]

Yesterday, Sunnova International declared bankruptcy, or in their Enronish PR world, “Strategic Action to Facilitate Value-Maximizing Sale Process.”

The company never had a quarterly profit, existing on political fumes and gullible “green” customers.

CNBC reported:

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….

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.

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.

Reuters reported on the wider problem of the rooftop play, Solar Bankruptcies Show US Clean Energy Industry is Teetering on the Brink“. John Berger and the solar cronies owe taxpayers and customers a lot of money–and letters of apology.

Sunnova History

Profuse government grants, loans, and tax breaks supported Sunnova from the beginning. The public needs to know where the money went and why John Berger and a few at the top made out like bandits (rent-seeking), while just about everyone else bit the dust.

My previous Sunnova posts at MasterResource tell the rest of the story:

• Sunnova EVP’s Exit: Self-adulation Within a Taxpayer Bubble June 4, 2025
• Sunnova Hype pre-Bankruptcy May 8, 2025
• Sunnova’s Net Zero for Stockholders (last ESG report of a ‘second-hander’ company) May 7, 2025
• John Berger: “Lifetime Achievement Award” for Sustainable Energy Future April 1, 2025
• Sunnova Going Solyndra? (Enron-ex John Berger owes taxpayers a bundle) February 12, 2025
• Sunnova’s Rooftop Solar: Selling a Bad Product Requires …. April 25, 2019

Industry-leading Adaptive Energy Services Company?

Sunnova’s boilerplate language should perhaps be removed given the perilous legal waters that the company is in. The bankruptcy press release ended:

Sunnova Energy International Inc. (NYSE: NOVA) is an industry-leading adaptive energy services company focused on making clean energy more accessible, reliable, and affordable for homeowners and businesses. Through its adaptive energy platform, Sunnova provides a better energy service at a better price to deliver its mission of powering energy independence. For more information, visit http://www.sunnova.com.

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[1] “Sunnova intends to continue to monitor, manage, and service solar and storage systems in the ordinary course during the sale process,” yesterday press release stated. “The Company plans to communicate directly with customers regarding any material changes that may impact the service and support provided by Sunnova.”

The risk for stranded customers falls to TEPH Subsidiary and ATLAS SP Partners–if they go bust with many contracts that have a decade or more to run, then the customers get to go through some more anxiety and loss. Expect a lot of solar panels to go bad and roof repairs to jump.  

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