The Renewable Energy Narrative Continues; SunPower Files For Bankruptcy -- Add Another Log To The Fire -- August 6, 2024

Locator: 48345SOLAR.

The sun didn't come up for a lot of these companies this morning. My hunch: most of these failed CEOs are now lobbyists for the industry.

We're seeing it in both solar and EVs: when the "subsidies" go away, EVs and solar energy fail.

Link here.

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Put Another Log On The Fire

 Link here.

Does anyone remember this list?

This is the new list. I assume there are further updates or companies I missed. The bankruptcy updates are incomplete; I ran out of time updating all the companies that went bankrupt. I'll probably come back to complete the list later.

• Tonopah Solar Energy LLC / Solar Reserve ($737 million) -- added July 30, 2020; 
• Evergreen Solar ( Lost $25 million) -- bankrupt
• SpectraWatt ( Lost $500,000)
• Solyndra ( Lost $535 million) -- bankrupt
  
• Beacon Power ( Lost $43 million) -- bankrupt
• Nevada Geothermal ( Lost $98.5 million)
• SunPower ( Lost $1.2 billion) -- files for bankruptcy -- August 6, 2024; is this the second time?
  
• First Solar ( Lost $1.46 billion)
• Babcock and Brown ( Lost $178 million)
• EnerDel’s subsidiary Ener1 ( Lost $118.5 million) -- filed for bankruptcy -- January 26, 2012
• Amonix ( Lost $5.9 million) -- filed for bankruptcy -- July 21, 2012
• Fisker Automotive ( Lost $529 million) -- file for bankruptcy -- June 18, 2024
  
• Abound Solar ( Lost $400 million)
• A123 Systems ( Lost $279 million) -- filed for bankruptcy -- October 16, 2012
  
• Willard and Kelsey Solar Group ( Lost $700,981)
• Johnson Controls ( Lost $299 million)
• Brightsource ( Lost $1.6 billion)
• ECOtality ( Lost $126.2 million) -- filed for bankruptcy -- September 16, 2013
  
• Raser Technologies ( Lost $33 million)
• Energy Conversion Devices ( Lost $13.3 million)
• Mountain Plaza, Inc. ( Lost $2 million)
• Olsen’s Crop Service and Olsen’s Mills Acquisition Company ( Lost $10 million)
• Range Fuels ( Lost $80 million) -- filed for bankruptcy -- December 2011
  
• Thompson River Power ( Lost $6.5 million) -- filed for bankruptcy -- July 17, 2012
• Stirling Energy Systems ( Lost $7 million) -- filed for bankruptcy -- September 29, 2011
  
• Azure Dynamics ( Lost $5.4 million) -- bankrupt
• GreenVolts ( Lost $500,000) -- filed for bankruptcy -- August 8, 2023
  
• Vestas ( Lost $50 million) -- wind -- still "viable" as of 2024
  
• LG Chem’s subsidiary Compact Power ( Lost $151 million)
• Nordic Windpower ( Lost $16 million) -- filed for bankruptcy -- October 2012
• Navistar ( Lost $39 million) -- narrowly avoided bankruptcy when bought
  
• Satcon ( Lost $3 million) -- filed for bankruptcy -- October 17, 2012
• Konarka Technologies Inc. ( Lost $20 million)
• Mascoma Corp. ( Lost $100 million)

Here we go: the complete list. I believe this is for one the past 18 months -- calendar year 2023 and through 2024 so far.

The solar industry experienced exponential growth over the last decade as costs fell and favorable policies helped drive mass adoption.

However, 2023 has brought immense challenges, with higher interest rates, tighter financing, and adverse policy shifts in key states contributing to over 100 solar bankruptcies based on our industry data, a number unseen before in our almost 20 years in the solar sector.

California was particularly hard hit due to new net metering rules under NEM 3.0 that radically reduced system economics. These adverse state policy impacts exacerbated financing shifts, triggering plummeting demand and an 80% decrease in rooftop solar installation volume.

The California Solar & Storage Association reports that the fallout includes thousands of stalled projects, over 17,000 industry layoffs, and a wave of high-profile bankruptcies. While stronger players demonstrate some resilience, impacted homeowners and solar employees face prolonged uncertainty. The outright collapse of many once fast-growing solar firms provides a sobering case study on the potential unintended consequences of incentive transitions.

Solar Trust of America, LLC: link here.