SunPower rises again

Complete Solaria rebranded as SunPower with T.J. Rodgers as its helm.

April 23, 2025 Rachel Metea

Image: SunPower

SunPower is rising again through a rebranded Complete Solaria, which will take its name along with the assets it acquired from the bankrupt-company last year. SunPower includes another legacy from both companies’ past: the once-retired solar veteran T.J. Rodgers, who bankrolled and helped grow both companies in their early years.

Rodgers, who founded Cypress Semiconductor, first became involved with SunPower in 2001 after running into a friend at a coffee shop. Rodgers said his friend told him he was having financial problems with his new company, SunPower. Rodgers said he wrote a personal investment check for $750,000 and joined SunPower’s board. Five years later, he said he convinced the board of Cypress to invest in a 40% interest in SunPower.

SunPower took off shortly after, enabling the company to modify its Austin, Texas wafer fabrication plant, for example, to train SunPower engineers on silicon manufacturing, which he said pushed SunPower’s A‑300 SunPower solar cell to come to market in high volume at low cost. Under CEO Tom Werner, who joined SunPower in 2005, SunPower began establishing its legacy. For example, the company set a record in 2014 when it achieved an efficiency of 24.1% for a module using silicon cells.

In 2021, SunPower’s CEO Tom Werner announced his retirement, ending an 18-year reign that led the company to go public in 2005, surpass $1 billion in 2008, survive the solar boom-to-bust in the early 2010s and, though it was struggling, make it through to other side as one of the largest residential solar installers by 2019. Then came COVID, and with it: home improvements. Solar was thriving.

And then, things fell apart. Interest rates raised costs and NEM 3.0 devastated the leading rooftop market in California. In December 2023 the company defaulted on its debt and issued a “going concern” warning. A series of missteps and business practices that drew criticism began to mount. In August 2024, the company filed for bankruptcy. It was the end of the line for the U.S. solar giant.

Or so we thought.

When Werner learned SunPower was filing for Chapter 11, he called Rodgers. Rodgers was now in his mid 70s, but the billionaire began to raise funds for his new solar company Complete Solar to buy SunPower’s assets. He said it was difficult to execute given the 65-person “startup” had limited cashflow and time to buy and integrate 2,901 employees from his former company.

Rodgers is SunPower’s CEO and once again, chair. Since the asset acquisition, the integrated company has slashed its workforce from nearly 3,000 employees to 900. According to SunPower, it has twice achieved over $300 million in annualized revenue, and turned profitable and cash flow positive.

Bankrolled by Rodgers and John Doerr, Complete Solaria was formed in 2022 through a merger between residential solar provider Complete Solar and solar module maker Solaria.

Following its bankruptcy, SunPower sold its assets to Complete Solaria for $45 million. Complete Solar later sold the patents for its shingled solar modules to Maxeon, the panel manufacturing spinout of SunPower.

SunPower will present its audited 2024 financial results and unaudited Q1 2025 financial results in its earning call April 30 at 1:00 p.m. ET. Register for the webcast here. The company’s ticker symbol will change from “CSLR” and “CSLRW” to “SPWR” and “SPWRW”, respectively, effective April 22, 2025.

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