Stumbles for embattled San Jose solar company SunPower end in bankruptcy

By Will Wade and Mark Chediak | Bloomberg

After a drawn-out saga involving a restructuring and a management shakeup, one of the most-prominent names in US solar, SunPower Corp., has now filed for bankruptcy.

Over the course of less than two years, the once-darling of the industry was forced to fire workers to cut costs, restate earnings and it defaulted on a credit agreement. In 2024, the firm replaced its chief executive officer, restructured its operations and lost its accountant.

RELATED: SunPower solar business meltdown triggers hundreds of Bay Area layoffs

Industry headwinds added to the woes: High interest rates and subsidy changes in California — the US sector’s biggest market — have been a drag for solar firms that expected big growth from President Joe Biden’s signature climate law of 2022.

SunPower said in court papers that it’s carrying about $2 billion in long-term debt and it’s been struggling since October to avoid potential defaults under various financing arrangements. Top shareholders in the firm include France’s TotalEnergies SE.

On Tuesday, the shares plunged by 34% to 53 cents as of 10:01 a.m. in New York.

“SunPower’s travails are emphatically a company-specific issue and should not be seen as a comment on the underlying demand for US residential solar,” Pavel Molchanov, an analyst with Raymond James, said by email. “It has been a difficult six months for SunPower.”

The rooftop solar company agreed to sell assets including its Blue Raven Solar installation unit and new homes businesses to Complete Solaria Inc. as a stalking horse buyer for $45 million, according to a statement late Monday. It asked the court to approve the deal by the end of September.

“SunPower has faced a severe liquidity crisis caused by a sharp decline in demand in the solar market and SunPower’s inability to obtain new capital,” Matthew Henry, the company’s chief transformation officer, wrote in a bankruptcy filing.