Sungevity, once a residential solar installer of note, is auctioning its assets

The now former company has laid off its remaining staff, locked its offices and left dozens of customers, sub-contractors and former employees asking what comes next.

December 2, 2020 Tim Sylvia

By Sungevity - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10304998

Sungevity was founded in 2007 and was once the fifth largest solar installer in the U.S. — but its story is now over.

After two rounds of unannounced mass layoffs, a name change and what was once a very promising future, Sungevity is defunct. The final round of layoffs for the remaining employees took place on November 24th, followed by the announcement on December 1st that a public auction will be held on December 7th to divvy up the company’s remaining assets.

As for the recently-displaced employees, the timing of the layoffs meant that on November 30th, less than a week after losing their jobs, many were left without company-provided insurance. What’s more is that, since Sungevity no longer exists, these employees are not eligible for continuation of health coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act.

Two sources close to the company, both of whom requested to be left anonymous, told pv magazine that, alongside the obvious actions of selling company vehicles and paying off remaining office leases, that hundreds of former Sungevity customers have been left hanging on their incomplete installations.

These installations, according to the sources, had been handled by third party installers for quite some time, yet these installers were met by the company’s complete closure without warning. As a result, reportedly “hundreds” of installations have been left incomplete, nowhere near achieving permission to operate.

Projects left in limbo

One such customer reached out to pv magazine, giving a look into what hundreds are currently facing. According to him, his residential solar-plus-storage project, purchased from Sungevity but installed by a third party contractor, is nearly complete, but has not received final permit approval, leaving him ineligible to qualify for Pacific Gas and Electric’s net metering program. He said that his concerns have gone unanswered from Sungevity since November 23rd.

Rather than being left entirely in the dark, the customer reached out to the California Solar and Storage Association, sharing that the group seemed “interested and willing to persuade the sub-contractor that did the actual installation to participate in the final inspection of my system by the city, so I can get certified for net-metering with PG&E.”

It’s not just the customers and employees that have been left hanging, as many of the sub-contractors installing for Sungevity have been left with unpaid bills. One source listed nine such contractors who have been left out to dry financially, sharing that that was just a portion of the larger picture.

While this marks the end of the line for Sungevity, hundreds of customers, employees, investors and sub-contractors are now left looking for ways to finish their installations, get paid and, in some cases, get the last of their personal belongings out of the now-locked former offices.

This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.