Sunrun

Last updated

Sunrun Inc.
Company type Public
Industry Renewable energy
Founded2007;18 years ago (2007)
Headquarters 225 Bush Street,
San Francisco, California
,
U.S.
Key people
Production output
Increase2.svg 990  megawatts solar (2022)
RevenueIncrease2.svg US$2.32 billion (2022)
Decrease Positive.svgUS$−662 million (2022)
Increase2.svgUS$173 million (2022)
Total assets Increase2.svgUS$19.27 billion (2022)
Total equity Increase2.svgUS$7.57 billion (2022)
Number of employees
12,408 (2022)
Website www.sunrun.com OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Footnotes /references
Financials as of December 31,2022.
References: [1]

Sunrun Inc. is an American provider of photovoltaic systems and battery energy storage products, primarily for residential customers. The company was established in 2007 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Contents

Since its inception, the company has focused primarily on a power purchase agreement (PPA) business model where Sunrun installs and maintains a solar system on a customer's home, then sells power to the customer at an agreed upon rate for a 20- or 25-year term. This business model allows property owners to install solar at no upfront cost, but without the benefits (such as tax breaks) or some risks that come with being the owner of the system. The company has a sizable network of partners, including Costco and Lowe's, who allow Sunrun to market to customers inside their stores.

In 2023, the company installed solar systems capable of generating 990 megawatts of power, and in the history of the company, had installed a total of 5.7 gigawatts of power for nearly 800,000 customers. [1]

History

Sunrun was co-founded in January 2007 by Lynn Jurich, Ed Fenster, and Nat Kreamer with a business model in which it offered customers either a lease or a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) business model whereby homeowners paid for electricity usage but did not buy solar panels outright, reducing the initial capital outlay required by the homeowner. [2] [3] [4] Sunrun is responsible for installation, maintenance, monitoring and repairs. [5] [6]

The company raised $12 million in venture capital funding from a group of investors including Foundation Capital in June 2008. [3] In 2009, Sunrun closed a Series B round of funding for $18 million led by Accel Partners and joined by Foundation Capital. The company also received an additional commitment of $90 million in tax equity from U.S. Bancorp in 2009, following the $105 million in project financing from the bank in 2008. In June 2010, Sunrun struck a deal with PG&E for $100 million. Following the deal, the company announced $55 million in fresh capital from Sequoia Capital. [7] In May 2014, the company raised $150 million. [8]

In 2015 Sunrun went public on the Nasdaq stock exchange at $14 per share, with an initial market capitalization of $1.36 billion [9] and launched its BrightBox battery energy storage product in the state of Hawaii. [8] The next year it started selling BrightBox in California. [8]

In January 2017, Sunrun announced a strategic partnership with National Grid plc. [10] The Wall Street Journal reported in May 2017 that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was investigating Sunrun and SolarCity, with regard to whether they adequately disclosed canceled contracts, a metric that the paper said is used by investors to gauge how well such companies are performing. [11] [12] In 2017, cancellations of contracts with Sunrun reached 40%. [13]

In July 2020, Sunrun announced that it would acquire Vivint Solar for $3.2 billion. [14] By early October 2020, the acquisition was completed following the approval by regulators and stockholders of both companies, creating a valuation of approximately $22 billion. [15]

In February 2022, Ford announced a partnership making Sunrun the official installer of bidirectional charging stations for the F-150 Lightning, allowing customers to charge their trucks at home, but also use the vehicle battery for backup power during a grid outage. [16]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Sunrun 2022 Annual Report" (PDF). February 22, 2023.
  2. ↑ Savchuk, Katia. "The Woman-Led Company That Reinvented Solar For Homeowners". Forbes. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
  3. 1 2 Das, Anupreeta (June 24, 2008). "US residential solar start-up raises $12 million". Reuters. Retrieved August 13, 2008.
  4. ↑ Nauman, Matt (August 22, 2008). "Power-purchase agreements reduce cost of solar panels". Mercury News. Retrieved August 23, 2008.
  5. ↑ LaMonica, Martin (June 24, 2008). "Solar financier Sunrun pulls in money". CNET.
  6. ↑ Davidson, Paul (March 30, 2008). "Companies Give Folks Help to Go Green". USA Today. Retrieved August 14, 2008.
  7. ↑ Ricketts, Camille (June 29, 2010). "Sequoia leads $55M for SunRun, bringing solar to a roof near you". VentureBeat.
  8. 1 2 3 Doom, Justin (May 15, 2014). "Sunrun Closes $150 Million Funding Round to Expand Rooftop Solar". Bloomberg L.P.
  9. ↑ Pyper, Julia (August 5, 2015). "Sunrun Hits Its Target Price, Raises $251 Million in Solar Installer IPO". Greentech Media.
  10. ↑ "Sunrun and National Grid, a Leading Global Utility, Form Multifaceted Strategic Partnership" (Press release). Nasdaq GlobeNewswire. January 10, 2017.
  11. ↑ Grind, Kirsten (May 3, 2017). "SEC Probes Solar Companies Over Disclosure of Customer Cancellations". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  12. ↑ Grind, Kirsten (May 22, 2017). "Solar Company Sunrun Was Manipulating Sales Data, Say Former Managers". The Wall Street Journal.
  13. ↑ Walton, Robert (May 24, 2017). "Report: Former managers say Sunrun manipulated sales data in leadup to 2015 IPO". Utility Dive. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
  14. ↑ Penn, Ivan (July 10, 2020). "Solar Deal Would Create a New Industry Giant". The New York Times. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Sunrun Acquires Vivint Solar Creating a Valuation of $22B". Yahoo! Finance. Zacks Equity Research. October 13, 2020. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  16. ↑ "F-150 Lightning Power Play: First Electric Truck to Enhance Your Home Energy Independence" (Press release). Ford. February 2, 2022. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
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