Out of Sungevity’s ashes, Solar Spectrum will rise using its assets and employees

From the ashes of Sungevity, Solar Spectrum will rise.

At least that’s the hope of investment group Northern Pacific, who acquired  Sungevity’s infrastructure, technology, installer network, supplier warranties and certain agreements in connection with the bankruptcy court approved sale and created Solar Spectrum from the pieces.

The new company has also pledged to bring Sungevity’s displaced workers back to work as part of the settlement. Finally, Solar Spectrum will continue to operate the bankrupt firm’s European properties under their current brands.

But the question on everyone’s lips – what will happen to Sungevity’s customers – has also been answered, at least generally. Starting in May,  Solar Spectrum will contact all current users of Sungevity solutions to give them a chance to purachase a warranty solution. The company says the warranty will be competitively priced to accommodate the stranded consumers shocked by Sungevity’s swift and sudden bankruptcy.

Solar Spectrum’s also announced that its management team will include Patrick McGivern as CEO, and William Nettles as president and chief operating officer.  McGivern comes to Solar Spectrum from Fitbit, and Nettles joins the company from Verifone. The two men’s careers crossed for three years at Verifone. Neither man has solar industry experience.

With Northern Pacific Group’s money, the Solar Spectrum leaders expect to build a sustainable business that creates value for the company’s employees, partners and customers.

“Today marks a new beginning for this business,” McGivern said. “I am proud to lead a new player in the residential solar market that has a healthy balance sheet and a competitive value proposition.”

We thank our employees, customers and partners for their patience and for their continued support and commitment,” he added. “Together, we will focus on building a sustainable and successful business at the forefront of solar as the industry continues to grow.”

Sungevity, a Top 5 residential solar installer as recently as 2016, started its decline in January and plunged precipitously until it filed for bankruptcy in March. Shortly after the bankruptcy, employees’ paychecks bounced, they were slapped with a class-action suit for back pay, accrued vacation and sick-time compensation and accusations swirled that it had broken federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act provisions by not providing at least 60 days notice to its employees before massive layoffs.

As recently as November, the company’s futures seemed bright. It had negotiated a proposed “reverse-merger” with investment firm Easterly Acquisition Corp. that Sungevity thought would allow it to access public capital between $357 million and $607 million. But the deal mysteriously fell apart when Easterly pulled out without explanation. Once that deal went south, so did Sungevity’s fortunes.