Latest news with #SunPower
The Independent
a day ago
- Business
- The Independent
SunPower Maxeon 7 solar panel review: best for longevity
If you're investing in solar power for the long haul, the SunPower Maxeon 7 solar panel stands out for its exceptional warranty and durability. In this SunPower Maxeon 7 review, we explain why it's our top choice for longevity and how it compares to other brands on the market. Whether you're trying to cut your energy bills or make your home more sustainable, solar panels can be a smart investment. To help you get started, we've reviewed the best solar panels available in the UK and compared leading products side by side. You can also check out our guide to the best solar panel installers to ensure a quality installation. The solar panel market is a competitive one, with plenty of unfamiliar brands offering fairly similar products. But choosing the best solar panels in the UK isn't as simple as picking the model with the highest efficiency or the longest warranty. Many panels now offer similar specs on paper — comparable power output, 25- to 30-year lifespans, and sleek all-black designs. But with installation often being the largest part of the overall cost of solar panels, and British weather posing its own set of challenges, the stakes for getting the right system are high. The boom in commercial solar farms has helped push the technology forward. Installation is still the biggest cost, so it pays to invest in long-lasting panels. Fortunately, costs have fallen dramatically over the past two decades, especially as China has scaled up manufacturing and innovation. But fitting panels still involves scaffolding, labour, and additional equipment to connect to your home mains, so it's wise to factor in total system cost, not just the panel price when choosing the best solar panel for your home. Why choose the SunPower Maxeon 7? Price, installed: £1250 per kW Efficiency: 24 per cent Wattage per panel: 475W Type: N-Type Made in: Malaysia and the Philippines Degradation: 90.8 per cent after 30 years Warranty: 40 years with registration, only for certain fitters A pricier unit than most, the SunPower Maxeon 7 solar panel also has the staying power to justify the extra expense. It's the only solar panel in our roundup to offer an industry-leading 40-year warranty, making it ideal for homeowners prioritising long-term peace of mind. The catch is that you must register the product to access this extended coverage, and only certain installers qualify, so be sure to ask your provider if this is important to you. The panel also delivers high efficiency, strong power output and minimal degradation—it will retain more than 90% of its original power output even after 30 years. Its high output per panel makes the Maxeon 7 a smart choice for homes with limited roof space. Whilst still using the SunPower brand, Singapore-based Maxeon was spun off from its American parent company, SunPower, in 2020. The company is now headquartered in Singapore and listed on the New York Stock Exchange. China's TCL Technology Group owns more than a third of its shares, while France's TotalEnergies holds roughly 25%. Weighing just 21kg, the panel is relatively light for its size. It measures 1.79m x 1.04m with a depth of 4cm. One note of caution: Maxeon's financial performance has been under pressure in recent years. The company lost its largest customer following the 2020 split from SunPower, which negatively impacted revenues. In 2024, Maxeon announced plans to sell its non-US business to its main investor, TCL. For more on longevity, see our guide to how long solar panels last. Pros: Cons: For those seeking top-tier solar solutions, Maxeon Solar Technologies stands as a steadfast leader in the PV sector, backed by a dedicated network Stratford Energy How we compiled our guide To compile our list, we spoke to experts on the ground and have broken down the top-performing brands based on real-world value, not just technical specs. We've prioritised long-term performance, value for money, and the reputation of the best solar panel installers in the UK. And if you're wondering are solar panels worth it for your home, this guide is designed to help you make a smart, informed decision that pays off over time—whether you're upgrading an old array or fitting solar panels for the first time. Most panels are guaranteed for 25 years and offer similar power output, size, efficiency and looks. So we've weighted our judgement towards cost and degradation, which describes how much power the cells will provide after a number of years. The higher the percentage, the better. Much of your decision will also depend on which installer you go with, as many have preferred brands they work with due to bulk purchasing. You'll also see a lot of unfamiliar Chinese names as you do your research, but many of these are Tier-1 manufacturers in clean energy with strong track records in quality and durability.
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Complete Solaria reports preliminary Q2 revenue $67.524M vs $82.74M last year
SunPower CEO, T.J. Rodgers, commented, 'My last shareholder letter presented models for the impact on the solar industry of losing the 30% ITC tax subsidy. That market elasticity model showed that our then-current revenue of about $80 million per quarter would shrink to $74.6 million when the effective ITC price increase cooled down the market in Q1'26. We then extended the model to study bigger quarterly revenue reductions to $71 million, at which the company still would be profitable. However, our Q2'25 actual revenue dropped to $67.5 million, further and faster than our predictions, but we still made a $2.42 million operating profit – due to a vigorous effort in reducing our operating expense from $21.9 million in Q1'25 to $17.3 million in Q2'25, a full $4.6 million improvement. In addition, we focused on our most profitable market segments, which raised gross margin from 39% to 43%. Elevate Your Investing Strategy: Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. Published first on TheFly – the ultimate source for real-time, market-moving breaking financial news. Try Now>> See today's best-performing stocks on TipRanks >> Read More on SPWR: Disclaimer & DisclosureReport an Issue Complete Solaria Amends Forward Purchase Agreements SunPower CEO notes 'careless reporting' on MarketWatch ahead of Q2 results Complete Solaria Issues $5M Convertible Promissory Note Charged: Musk says doesn't support merger between Tesla, xAI Executive Order to enforce BBB to have negative impact on solar sector, RBC says Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Industry insider explains how a massive solar company suddenly collapsed: 'Will more … companies follow suit?'
Leading U.S. solar company Sunnova Energy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on June 8, becoming just the latest industry stalwart to fall by the wayside. Mosaic and SunPower also met this fate within the last year, as EnergySage detailed, prompting the question: "Will more major solar companies follow suit?" The move was no surprise because of "an unpredictable political and regulatory landscape, high interest rates, and persistent inflation," according to the independent clean energy advocate. These factors have slowed demand for solar energy and financing, particularly among residential customers. From 2023 to 2024, Americans installed 32% fewer solar systems on their homes. "This model thrived when interest rates were low — particularly in 2020 when the Federal Reserve slashed rates to near zero," EnergySage reported. "But as rates climbed in recent years, the cost of borrowing money skyrocketed, shrinking profit margins for solar companies reliant on financing. Sunnova, SunPower, and others found themselves caught between rising capital costs and slowing customer demand, a squeeze that led to financial distress." The platform highlighted the necessity of government policies and subsidies in the industry's development, noting California solar installations dropped by 45% after a 2023 rule reduced net metering credit values by 75%. This move may have helped utilities, but it significantly cut residents' ability to benefit from their investments by selling energy back to the grid. Installing solar panels also lowers utility bills to or near $0 and eliminates the production of heat-trapping gases from the use of dirty energy sources. It helped to topple SunPower, too, EnergySage stated. The high upfront cost of solar systems — about $29,000 — also means many customers take out loans to pay for the infrastructure. But with costs and interest rates rising since the coronavirus pandemic, those circumstances have become untenable. The Trump administration's push to end Inflation Reduction Act incentives and tax breaks for clean energy investments has had a chilling effect on the solar industry and renewable energy in general, EnergySage said. Those subsidies could be gone next year with an act of Congress, but they are still available now. EnergySage offers free services that can help you land nearly $10,000 for a solar installation. Enter basic information about your home and situation, and then compare quotes from vetted installers. It has a helpful mapping tool, too, showing state-by-state costs as well as incentive details. What is stopping you from upgrading to a heat pump system? The cost of installation I live in a cold area I don't know enough about it I already have one Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Sunnova Energy files for Chapter 11 amid rising debts
Residential solar panel installer Sunnova Energy has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US, as it faces increasing pressure from growing debt and declining demand, as reported by Reuters. The move highlights ongoing challenges within the industry, including high interest rates and reduced incentives in key markets such as California. Sunnova is the second residential solar company to file for bankruptcy in June 2025, indicating broader issues affecting the sector. Solar Mosaic sought similar protection, while SunPower ceased operations one year earlier. Sunnova's subsidiary, Sunnova TEP Developer, also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection at the start of June. Sunnova made the filing at the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas following a warning issued by the company in March regarding its inability to continue operating sustainably. The company's estimated assets and liabilities are listed between $10bn to $50bn, with total debts amounting to $10.67bn, as of December 2024. Sunnova also announced that it had signed agreements with Atlas SP Partners and Lennar Homes to divest specific assets to each company for $15m and $16m respectively, subject to court approval. The company will maintain its regular operations during the sale process. The company also announced plans to reduce its workforce by 55% - 718 employees - as part of cost-cutting measures. The situation is further complicated by policy changes under President Donald Trump's administration, which revoked a partial loan guarantee worth $2.92bn previously awarded by President Biden's administration. Solar panel companies in the US expressed concerns about a Republican budget bill progressing through Congress. They warned that this legislation could harm the industry by removing a substantial subsidy for homeowners that has been crucial to its expansion. "Sunnova Energy files for Chapter 11 amid rising debts" was originally created and published by Power Technology, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
CEO T.J. Rodgers on Solar ITC Loss
'Free at last. Thank God Almighty we are free at last' OREM, Utah, June 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SunPower (aka Complete Solaria, Inc.) ('SunPower' or the 'Company') (Nasdaq: SPWR), a solar technology, services, and installation company – today T.J. Rodgers, Chairman and CEO, issued the following statement regarding pending legislation to cancel or wind down the 30% solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC). The soaring Martin Luther King quote is appropriate to describe the great opportunity now offered to the solar industry and to SunPower, in particular to get the federal government out of our lives. In the chip business, I survived two waves of government subsidies, Sematech (1987-1997) and the CHIPS and Science Act (2022- ). These subsidies followed a downward spiral path of 1) free money (here called welfare), 2) money with added political strings, and finally 3) money with numbing speed- and profit-killing regulations. My direct experience is that, like tariffs, government subsidies are bad and always harm the industry they intend to help. That's because the strings force companies to build factories where they don't want them, to follow building codes that dramatically increase cost and slow down building schedules, to adopt wage and work rules that make the workforce expensive and inflexible, and to cause the subsidized industry to get used to living on welfare and to become unable to compete with lean un-subsidized companies. That downward spiral is clearly demonstrated in my recent Wall Street Journal op-ed (link here), which describes the cradle‑to‑grave record of the Sematech chip welfare program, now being replicated by the new CHIPS Act, which is giving away $280 billion of taxpayers' money to some of the wealthiest corporations in the world – money that will be used for low‑ROI projects that the companies themselves were unwilling to fund. Sematech was launched with its first $1 billion in 1987 and actually harmed All American semiconductor companies, Sematech members and non-members, based on my direct observations as the CEO of a chip company. This should serve as a warning to the solar industry to rapidly abandon the ITC solar welfare program. Last week we read that the congress worked 'all night' on a bill to eliminate the solar investment tax credit (ITC). This type of erratic oversight has undermined the solar industry since at least 1978. Why would anyone spend years and vast sums to build a business that could be shut down by some ill-conceived government mandate, like tariff proposals that change weekly or congressional plans cooked up in all-night sessions? Washington's exit from solar will be a great benefit to our industry, which should be lobbying for free markets, not subsidies. Yes, there will be a one-time hurdle, our customers' loss of the 30% ITC tax credit they now receive for installing a solar system, but after that dislocation, the solar companies that survive (over 100 have succumbed so far) will be able to hunker down and run their businesses properly. Some of my college classmates were sloppy about attending classes and studying hard – and had to do all-night cram sessions before exams. Some of those same C-students apparently got elected to Congress and still 'pull all-nighters,' but now to create multi-billion dollar, thousand-page bills that they sign without ever having read them. SunPower (1985) SunPower was founded in 1985 and has survived every crash – dot-com, Black Friday, the 2008 housing crisis – for 40 years with the big, Chapter 11 black mark on its ledger in 2024. In my opinion after working on the SunPower bankruptcy problems, the failure was – as always – one of management, not controlling costs and demanding profitability, but this bad behavior is enabled by the federal government and its ITC solar welfare program which provided subsidies to private companies to install solar inefficiently, and induced banks to make poor quality loans to harvest the ITC welfare. I was the chairman of SunPower in 2005 when it raised $138 million ($232 million today) on its initial public offering and soon became the world's pre-eminent solar company with $1.4 billion in revenue and $168 million in operating income in 2008. I left SunPower in 2010 after the giant French oil company, Total, mounted a successful greenwashing effort to take over SPWR by buying $1.37 billion of its stock (60%) from the open market. Total never even asked for a meeting with me to help them with running a high-tech Silicon Valley company. The resulting SunPower board was dominated by Total employees with little technical vision and no decision-making authority. Now you can see why French gasoline is $7.50 per gallon. SunPower survived that mismanagement and the other crises, but succumbed when its relentless losses had piled up almost $500 million in debt they could not pay back. They asked the banks for another $650 million; the banks said no; old-SunPower's credit dried up; and they went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy shortly thereafter. About 1,000 of old-SunPower's employees were hired by my startup solar company, Complete Solar (Nasdaq: CSLR), which we called the Ark – that is, a good place to be when the rains start, because we were a public company and had cash. We bought key SunPower assets, including its name and three businesses units. New SunPower emerged as a company with $320 million in annualized revenue that created its first operating profit just two quarters after becoming part of the new SunPower, the name we own and now use for the whole company. This quarter we are on track to have our second profitable quarter. Yet, even with this record of rapid success, our investors reasonably want to know if the proposed abrupt ITC cancellation would harm SunPower or even put it out of business. To answer that question, we first need to understand new SunPower's structure. Noah's Ark Startup Strategy This Complete Solar strategy for SunPower was approved by the old-SunPower board and presented a 'stalking horse' plan to the bankruptcy asset auction, which we won with a $45 million bid and no competing bids. Complete Solar bought the SunPower assets it wanted and hired and integrated about 1,000 SunPower people, but left the rest of the mess behind in the bankruptcy estate. Our Ark merger strategy is nothing but a typical Silicon Valley startup plan in disguise. Instead of trying to save a big company in trouble by borrowing a lot of money (old-SunPower asked for a $650 million bailout), the Ark Theory asserts, 'Your old company has great assets. Get venture funding for those assets (in our case $80 million), and build a new lean, flexible startup organization around them that can make a profit with the assets you already have.' In a way, it's better than a startup plan because the first-round accomplishment is already guaranteed. Our Ark was predicated on a plan for a $100 million quarter supporting 1,225 people. When the dust settled, SunPower's first two quarters were $80 million each, so the Ark was reduced to 980 passengers. After taking control of the assets on September 30, 2024, the newly combined SunPower focused on becoming quickly profitable at its new revenue point of $80 million per quarter. In just two quarters the combined losses went from a ($39.6 million) loss to a ($5.9 million) loss to a $1.3 million operating profit, the first profitable quarter in four years. Our current Q2'25 financial guidance is that it will continue to make money in this quarter with an internal target (not guidance) to exceed Q1'25 profit. We will give financial projections for Q3'25 after the details of the ITC shutdown are known. Effect of ITC Loss on Solar Market In this analysis, we use the worst-case ITC scenario with an abrupt cutoff in the end of Q4'25, and model the financial impact on SunPower. Our models give us a seven-quarter snapshot of various scenarios at one point in time and do not constitute our guidance. However, for business as usual under various stresses, they do predict our breakeven revenue, which is currently about $72 million (Figure D), and will fall further to $65 million (Figure F) when the cost reductions in progress are complete. Before modeling SunPower, we project scenarios for what might happen to the solar market when the ITC dries up and we compete in a market with higher prices and lower volume. Solar Market Analysis As shown in the data chart in Figure C, the last six years were the best ever in solar volume with shipments of 2,176 MW to 6,953 MW in 2015-2024 at relatively flat prices from $3.30 to $3.65 per watt. During that period, the least squares line fitting the vertical part of the L-shaped demand curve has a correlation coefficient of only R2=.06, showing that solar volume did not depend on price in that region, which is further demonstrated by an inverted elasticity curve in which raising price increases volume. Given that the price of $3.65/W had already been accepted by the market in 2015, we believe the current market price of $3.30 can return to $3.65 (10.6% increase) without affecting volume. After that, the volume penalty for increasing price is -584 MW/yr per $/W, as determined by the slope of the horizontal part of the demand curve in which volume is highly correlated to market price (R2 = 0.77). The short form: going forward, I believe the solar market will stay constant up to $3.65/W and then contract at the rate of -584 MW/yr per $/W our analysis predicts a price rise from $3.30/W to $3.88/W (17.6%) causing a volume loss of 134 MW relative to the chosen starting point 4,742 MW reported for 2024, itself a down year. If the -584 MW/yr per $/W gets applied the full $3.30 to $3.88 price change, the market would drop by 339 MW in 2026, to 4,403 MW. SPWR's revenue, assuming constant share of market, will drop from 4,742 MW to 4,403 MW (7.2%). SPWR's quarterly revenue would then drop from $80 million per quarter to $74.2 million per quarter. So, we stress tested our P&L to that number and worse. Figure D. P&L for $80 Million Q2'25 (Model) The model for our current company predicts if we can make $80 million of revenue per quarter at today's costs, we will generate about $2.2 million in profit in Q2'25. We next model our quarterly breakeven revenue to address how far our revenue can slip for us to remain profitable with current costs. Figure E. Breakeven Revenue with P&L at Current Cost Our revenue can drop to $74.3 million in Q2'25 and we will retain our operating income at $1.2 million because our Q1-Q2 cost-cutting measures will completely offset the revenue drop from $80.2 million to $74.3 million. What if we further cut headcount? The Figure shows our profit will return to the $1.2 million-$2.0 million range for the full seven-quarter period, even without any acquisitions. Of course, this stressed business-as-usual analysis will blow up if a major event occurs, such as vendor or customer failure. Why is our stock price so low? The Greentech company index shows a P/S ratio (defined as market cap/annualized revenue) of 2.6x declining to 2.1x over the last two years. The solar industry has been hit harder. Solar leader SunRun dropped from 1.6x to 0.9x sales, while SPWR has remained anomalously low at about 0.5x sales during the whole period – despite our record of rapid accomplishments during our first two quarters as a public company: buying SPWR assets, integrating 1,000 SPWR employees, rebranding as SunPower and reducing operating income losses from $39.6 million to a $1.2 million operating income profit. We have identified at least two causes for this valuation anomaly. In my detailed examination of our statement of Risk Factors in our 10Q report, on the day of the share price drop related to our 10Q, we actually wrote in the 10Q Risk Factors section that 'we may never be profitable' on the very same day we had reported an operating profit for the first time in four years. Our Risk Factors need to be better done, but the root cause fix must be to get rid of the 'going concern' rating – and that's exactly what we have been working on since taking over SunPower. Our goal is to get rid of the 'going concern' rating by year-end. A Media Snippet accompanying this announcement is available in this link. No Late Breaking News The solar industry is somewhat in a turmoil right now. While we don't have enough solid data to modify our guidance, rumors are starting to flow: 1) a financial company (not among our top two) may be in financial trouble, and 2) we have been sued by a major builder because we're shutting down its systems for 90-day-plus late payment (true). Finally, if the market contraction sets in a reaction to the ITC news, it may impact our revenue as early as this quarter, not in Q1'26. The solar industry, ethical heir to the aluminium siding industry, provides a test of character per week. I have had to pass many of those tests to start creating a long-term record that we can be proud of. What I do know is that we are going to be profitable again this quarter and I'll deal with the other problems as they come up. About SunPowerThe Company has been a leading residential solar services provider in North America since 1985. The Company's digital platform and installation services support energy needs for customers wishing to make the transition to a more energy-efficient lifestyle. For more information visit Forward Looking Statements This presentation contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, about us and our industry that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or our future financial or operating performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as 'will,' 'goal,' 'prioritize,' 'plan,' 'target,' 'expect,' 'focus,' 'forecast,' 'look forward,' 'opportunity,' 'believe,' 'estimate,' 'continue,' 'anticipate,' and 'pursue' or the negative of these terms or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements in this presentation include, without limitation, our future quarterly revenue projections, our expectations regarding our future fiscal financial performance, including with respect to our future quarterly and fiscal combined revenues and profit before tax loss, expectations and plans relating to further headcount reduction, cost control efforts, and our expectations with respect to stock price and when we achieve breakeven operating income and positive operating income, including our models about achieving operating income breakeven or profitability. Actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements as a result of certain risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, our expectations relating to the ITC phase out and its impacts on our business and market demand, our ability to implement further headcount reductions and cost controls, our ability to integrate and operate the combined business with the SunPower assets, our ability to achieve the anticipated benefits of the SunPower acquisition, global market conditions, changes to domestic or foreign tariffs or tax incentives, any adjustments, changes or revisions to our financial results arising from our financial closing procedures, and other risks and uncertainties applicable to our business. For additional information on these risks and uncertainties and other potential factors that could affect our business and financial results or cause actual results to differ from the results predicted, readers should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties described in the 'Risk Factors' section of our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on April 30, 2025, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC and other documents that we have filed with, or will file with, the SEC. Such filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this presentation speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and SunPower assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Company Contacts: Dan 212-9594 Sioban HickieVP, Investor 477-5847 Source: SunPower A photo accompanying this announcement is available athttps://
