Tag: Sunnova

Solar Bankruptcy: Pine Gate Renewables (boom to bust continues)

MasterResource has chronicled the rise and fall of major U.S. solar firms this year. The rooftop solar business is in shambles, with leaders such as Sunnova becoming worthless and defaulting on their long-term projects. And more recently, utility-scale solar developers are in trouble despite the last-minute deal to continue major tax subsidies until next year.

Aerial view of a large solar farm with numerous solar panels arranged in rows, surrounded by trees and open land, under a colorful sunset sky.

From Master Resource

By Robert Bradley Jr. 

“What about the triple-digit number of creditors who banked on a loser? What about taxpayers who funded around 30 percent of the solar investment? … Ben Catt is just another rent-seeker, a political crony, like Sunnova’s John Berger, benefitting at the expense of just about everyone else.”

MasterResource has chronicled the rise and fall of major U.S. solar firms this year. The rooftop solar business is in shambles, with leaders such as Sunnova becoming worthless and defaulting on their long-term projects. And more recently, utility-scale solar developers are in trouble despite the last-minute deal to continue major tax subsidies until next year.

Add this to the list. As reported in Solar Power World, (November 7, 2025):

National solar developer Pine Gate Renewables is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and selling its solar and energy storage project portfolio and independent power producer business. This will include completed and under-development projects, of which the company stated there is 10 GWDC in progress.

Founded nine years ago, Pine Gate has commercial and utility solar business in 32 states. With 500 MW of development in 2022, the company made the 2023 Top Solar Contractors List.

No less than 119 creditors are left in the lurch. The company’s press release–“Pine Gate Renewables Announces Comprehensive Agreements to Facilitate Strategic and Value-Maximizing Sales Process“–did not explain why the company failed despite receiving a raft of special government favors. Instead, CEO Ben Catt stated:

“Since our founding almost 10 years ago, Pine Gate has grown tremendously, deploying innovative solar and energy storage projects at scale that enable us to deliver renewable, reliable, and affordable energy. To ensure that our projects continue generating renewable energy, we made the strategic decision to commence this court-supervised sales process. With significant financial support from certain of our current lenders, we’re confident that we will successfully conduct a competitive sales process that reflects the inherent value of our nationwide portfolio of solar and energy storage projects.

Catt continues:

I’m grateful for the hard work and dedication of the Pine Gate team who has been key to helping us drive the renewable energy transition. As we move through this process, we remain committed to supporting our valued project partners across our more than 100 operational solar facilities and forging ahead with our projects in development and under construction.

This is winner talk, not loser talk. What about the triple-digit number of creditors who banked on a loser? What about taxpayers who funded around 30 percent of the solar investment? What if these projects had been sustainable from consumer demand (such as natural-gas-fired plants)? Ben Catt is just another rent-seeker, a political crony, like Sunnova’s John Berger, benefitting at the expense of just about everyone else.

Sunnova: Autopsy of a ‘Green’ Failure

MasterResource has chronicled the rise and fall of the large, government-enabled rooftop solar company, Sunnova Energy International, Inc. Led by the toothy Enron-ex John Berger (who made millions of dollars at the expense of just about everyone else, including taxpayers), Sunnova is yet another case study of business failure under political capitalism (versus free-market capitalism).

A cartoon character standing in front of a bright yellow sun with the words 'Sunnova' and 'bankruptcy' written prominently.

From Master Resource

By Robert Bradley Jr. 

“Subsidies like the DOE’s guarantees can incentivize firms to prioritize short-term gains over long-term compliance. Sunnova’s aggressive sales tactics, which targeted vulnerable consumers, were enabled by its belief that federal backing insulated it from accountability.” (Issac Lane, below)

MasterResource has chronicled the rise and fall of the large, government-enabled rooftop solar company, Sunnova Energy International, Inc. Led by the toothy Enron-ex John Berger (who made millions of dollars at the expense of just about everyone else, including taxpayers), Sunnova is yet another case study of business failure under political capitalism (versus free-market capitalism).

Previous posts have been:

Sunnova’s demise is part of an overall shakeout in the government-enabled rooftop solar business (SunPower, Mosaic Solar, etc.). A political boom-political bust industry.

Bankruptcy Plan Approval

With Sunnova’s bankruptcy plan approved last week in federal court, lessons remain to be learned by the (slow motion) Solyndra repeat. Issac Lane wrote in “The Sunnova Debacle: Why Green Energy Subsidies Demand Corporate Integrity Over Political Patronage“:

The cancellation of Sunnova Energy’s $3 billion Department of Energy (DOE) loan guarantee in 2025 marks a watershed moment for investors in the clean energy sector. What began as a high-profile federal backing for solar infrastructure has unraveled into a cautionary tale of corporate governance failures, regulatory overreach, and the perils of betting on firms reliant on politically opaque subsidy processes. For investors, the Sunnova saga underscores a critical lesson: in the green energy race, transparency, ethical compliance, and financial rigor matter far more than government connections.

Lane identified three key factors: “predatory business practices, financial mismanagement, and shifting political winds.”

Regarding predation:

Sunnova’s history of targeting elderly and low-income homeowners with aggressive sales tactics—such as隐瞒 [hidden] fees and exaggerating savings—triggered lawsuits and congressional investigations. A Minnesota Attorney General lawsuit, for instance, alleged that Sunnova concealed $35 million in hidden costs across nearly 5,000 loans. These practices, which violated the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), eroded public trust and made the company a political liability.

Regarding Financial Fragility:

Sunnova entered 2025 with $8.46 billion in debt and negative cash flow, prompting auditors to label it a “going concern.” High-interest loans (e.g., a $185 million term loan at 15% APR) and a shift in customer demand from loans to leases/PPAs further strained liquidity. By April 2025, the company filed for bankruptcy, rendering its DOE-backed Project Hestia—a residential solar and virtual power plant initiative—unviable.

Regarding Politics:

The Trump administration’s pivot to nuclear energy and rollback of Biden-era green subsidies sealed Sunnova’s fate. The DOE, now led by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, prioritized “proven” technologies and tightened scrutiny on conditional loan guarantees. Sunnova’s $3 billion guarantee, tied to consumer loans rather than direct corporate funding, became a casualty of this shift.

Lane usefully censored the government’s “green energy” loans:

The DOE’s Loan Programs Office (LPO), which approved Project Hestia in 2023, faces accusations of favoring politically connected firms over merit. Sunnova’s loan guarantee, finalized amid congressional probes into its sales practices, raises questions about due diligence. As Jigar Shah, a former DOE official, noted, such subsidies risk becoming tools of “regulatory capture” rather than engines of clean energy progress.

And “moral hazard” in this regard:

Subsidies like the DOE’s guarantees can incentivize firms to prioritize short-term gains over long-term compliance. Sunnova’s aggressive sales tactics, which targeted vulnerable consumers, were enabled by its belief that federal backing insulated it from accountability.

Issac Lane longs for “ethical green energy investing.” Good luck with that; the romantic view of government and private-sector political dealings, calling for “rigorous governance safeguards” involving “transparency,” “sustainable business models,” and “financial resilience.” But he fails to understand how the problem is political in the first place. The adage “The market picks winners, leaving losers for government” applies.

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Appendix: Schweizer on Sunnova

Peter Schweizer provided this autopsy in his article, “Sunnova bankruptcy shows government failures” (September 4, 2025). Excerpts follow:

  • Government support in the form of loan guarantees or subsidies has a history of finding companies like Solyndra and others that go out of business or declare bankruptcy despite infusions of government financial help. The latest example is a solar panel company called Sunnova, Inc…. 
  • Sunnova was a commercial and residential solar company that sold and leased clean energy technology, performed solar panel installations, and even offered financing plans such as loans. The company did business all over the country, especially in California, Puerto Rico, and New Jersey. 
  • Back in September 2023 … the US Department of Energy closed the deal on a $3.3 billion loan guarantee to Sunnova in support of the company’s “Project Hestia” program, … with the stated goal of making “distributed energy resources” more available to homeowners.
  • The project used a “virtual power plant model” … to offer government-backed loans to customers that would otherwise not be able to afford rooftop solar. 
  • Yet what Sunnova also had was a parade of red flags that should have raised concerns within the LPO. As the loan guarantee was being awarded, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) had flagged the company for a “pattern of complaints” about its sales practices and customer service. The Better Business Bureau last accredited the company in 2019, and despite Sunnova’s claim that it was “working closely” to reacquire accreditation, the bureau noted that “…the BBB is not able to work with Sunnova Energy Corporation at this time to have accreditation reinstated as the business currently does not meet the BBB’s Standards for Accreditation.” 
  • Sunnova also had problems in Puerto Rico, where the island’s Energy Bureau required it to change business practices after getting complaints from customers about its contracts and billing procedures. Customers alleged that their signatures had been transplanted onto restrictive contracts, and that Sunnova salespersons made false representations as to the value of the product…. Even worse, the only recourse Sunnova allowed customers was an in-house arbitration process, sometimes taking place thousands of miles away in Texas – a requirement that the Energy Bureau determined was illegal….
  • Six months after the award, in December 2023, a group of congressmen asked that very question, citing the company’s history of shady business practices and comparing it to Solyndra Inc., a notorious solar cell manufacturer that went bankrupt in 2011 despite receiving more than $500 million in stimulus funds during the Obama administration.  
  • The congressional inquiry also focused on the [DOE Loan Program Office] director, Jigar Shah. Shah is linked indirectly to Sunnova through an industry group called the Cleantech Leaders Roundtable. Cleantech, which Shah cofounded in 2019, shared a board member (Anne Slaughter Andrews) with Sunnova. A solar industry veteran, Shah left the LPO in January in front of the incoming Trump administration, though he has remained active in clean energy spaces. 
  • Furthermore, Shah has been accused of using his role as the director of the LPO to benefit Cleantech, operating a “pay-to-play” scheme with his former organization as a beneficiary. Shah continued to be listed on the Cleantech website until 2023, years after he joined the Department of Energy in March 2021. During this time, he also continued to appear at Cleantech events for loan-seeking companies, including a “Deploy23” conference that Cleantech invited the LPO to cohost in 2023….
  • In February 2025, Sunnova held its annual meeting for its retail dealers. Despite being months in arrears on payments to these dealers and struggling to handle its mounting debt, the company urged its dealers to keep marketing and selling its solar panels, encouraging their patience and promising them payment…. Some dealers feared having their accounts shut down if they did not agree to the change….
  • The struggling company reported nearly $9 billion in funded debt…. Sunnova has since announced the sale of its business operations and assets to a group controlled by GoodFinch Management for $25 million. Meanwhile, all those subsidiary dealers are saddled with about $347 million in unpaid funds, with no clear path or timeline for getting the money they are owed. 
  • While they wait, Sunnova’s executives won’t. On July 15, Sunnova asked the bankruptcy court for permission to offer a $7 million incentive plan to seven members of its top leadership, including its CEO. This, the company told the court, would ensure that these officers are “properly incentivized” during the bankruptcy process. 

Sunnova’s Enronish Ending

Each year, hundreds of dealers for solar-panel company Sunnova Energy International gather for a summit to celebrate a year’s hard work. But this February, they came to the glitzy Town & Country resort in San Diego looking for answers.

From Master Resource

By Robert Bradley Jr.

“’The [Sunnova] summit [last November] was really part of the swindle,’ said Chris Pélissié, chief executive at Senga Solar, which is owed more than $680,000 by Sunnova. ‘None of us dealers knew we were playing chess until it was just too late’…” (below)

Previous posts at MasterResource (below) have chronicled the government-enabled rooftop solar industry, which is now in distress. Bankrupt Sunnova Energy heads the list, with others either bankrupt or struggling.

In the Wall Street Journal article last week, “Sunnova Pushed Sales as Woes Mounted” (July 3, 2025), Alicia McElhaney wrote:

Each year, hundreds of dealers for solar-panel company Sunnova Energy International gather for a summit to celebrate a year’s hard work. But this February, they came to the glitzy Town & Country resort in San Diego looking for answers.

Enron was all glitz. The game was imaging–creating a non-financial reality where political cronies (“pull peddlers,” as Ayn Rand described them in Atlas Shrugged) ruled. “It is of such pennies and smiles that the destruction of your country is made,” bringing to mind the toothy white smile of Sunnova founder and now ex-CEO John Berger.  

But the reality was dire, so (Enron-ex) John Berger spun a tale.

Sunnova was months behind on its payments to dealers, who sell and install its home solar-energy systems and depend on timely reimbursements from the company to recoup upfront costs. Sunnova’s stock was tumbling, and its liquidity had worsened. But on that early February day in San Diego, Sunnova’s then-chief executive assured dealers they would get repaid as long as the dealers kept installing solar projects.

Dealers didn’t know the severity of the company’s financial problems at the time, or that it was already working with bankers to manage its debt burden and fix its rapidly eroding liquidity, several dealers told The Wall Street Journal.

Reality bats last.

Weeks after the gathering, Sunnova warned that it may not be able to operate as a going concern. By June, the company had filed for chapter 11, leaving its 175 dealers collectively owed around $347 million.

“The summit was really part of the swindle,” said Chris Pélissié, chief executive at Senga Solar, which is owed more than $680,000 by Sunnova. Dealers are facing payment challenges beyond Sunnova, with some also waiting to be paid by SunPower and Lumio, both of which filed for bankruptcy in 2024 amid a downturn in the renewables industry….

Berger gave his side of the story:

In bankruptcy court filings, Sunnova said it aims to settle dealer claims to ensure completion of 22,000 ongoing solar projects…. John Berger, Sunnova’s former CEO, separately told the Journal that he explained to dealers at the summit the company retained long-term cash flows for a rainy day. Berger said he told dealers that what Sunnova was facing was more like a hurricane than a rainy day, and that the company planned to use the cash to stabilize the company.

“I understand the frustration, but I consistently engaged with dealers openly and truthfully, even when the
news was difficult,” Berger said.

What was the reserve fund? The $2.92 billion loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy (Project Hestia)? Enron thought it had a billion dollar reserve from accounts receivables from California utilities in the aftermath of the power crisis in that state. It was only a paper asset that byzantine regulation gave and the legal system and politics took away.

Turns out Sunnova would get a $185 million loan from asset KKR in March (good money after bad)? But that money, little doubt, is long gone, feeding into the high-cost structure of an extravagant company (a la Enron).

“Sunnova didn’t respond to these allegations,” the article continues.

Sunnova stopped paying its dealers last November, and some of them stopped routing solar installation financing requests through the company. Val Berechet, co-founder and CEO at Sunsolar, said he is owed some $800,000, but that it could have been worse if he continued to sell his customers Sunnova products.

Berger was fired. He cashed in over the years, making him a rare winner amid thousands of losers. He has a lot of explaining to do. No more sermonizing about “clean” energy (solar is not ecologically blessed) and climate benefits (there are none from Sunnova or the U.S. solar industry on close inspection).

Sunnova wants to blame others for its bubble business model enabled by special government favor (graft, in retrospect). The article ends:

Around the end of March, Sunnova said in a letter to dealers reviewed by the Journal that it “will pursue all available legal remedies to seek damages for lost business and profits resulting from any intentional violation” of its policy that dealers can’t transfer their solar projects to another company after installation. “None of us dealers knew we were playing chess until it was just too late,” Senga’s Pélissié said.

Sunnova Declares Bankruptcy

“Profuse government grants, loans, and tax breaks supported Sunnova from the beginning. The public needs to know where the money went and why founder/CEO John Berger and a few others at the top made out like bandits, while just about everyone else bit the dust.”

From Master Resource

By Robert Bradley Jr.

“Profuse government grants, loans, and tax breaks supported Sunnova from the beginning. The public needs to know where the money went and why founder/CEO John Berger and a few others at the top made out like bandits, while just about everyone else bit the dust.”

Sunnova was all hat, no cattle. All sizzle, no steak. Long on DEI, short on profits. Long on government, short on consumer value.

And a lot of “Net Zero” for investors. And potentially voided contracts for more than 400,000 rooftop customers if tax credits go away under current legislation under debate. [1]

Yesterday, Sunnova International declared bankruptcy, or in their Enronish PR world, “Strategic Action to Facilitate Value-Maximizing Sale Process.”

The company never had a quarterly profit, existing on political fumes and gullible “green” customers.

CNBC reported:

Sunnova Energy said on Sunday it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States, as the residential solar panel installer buckled under the pressure of mounting debt and weakening demand. Shares were down 36.4% at 14 cents in premarket trading….

The company listed its estimated assets and liabilities in the range of $10 billion to $50 billion and has a total debt of $10.67 billion as of December 31, according to a court filing.

Sunnova said last week it would lay off about 55% of its workforce, or 718 employees, in a bid to cut spending. Earlier this month, its unit, Sunnova TEP Developer, had also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The company’s bankruptcy filing comes at a time when the U.S. residential solar energy industry is under immense pressure from higher interest rates; a reduction in incentives in the top market, California; and fears of subsidy rollbacks for clean energy.

President Donald Trump’s administration, which is pushing to maximize oil and gas production, canceled a partial loan guarantee of $2.92 billion last month that was awarded to Sunnova by the Biden administration.

Last year, peer SunPower, once a pioneer of the U.S. residential solar market, also collapsed following a subpoena from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission about its accounting practices and the departure of its CEO.

Companies that put solar panels on U.S. homes said last month a Republican budget bill that has advanced in Congress could deal a massive blow to the industry by eliminating a generous subsidy for homeowners that had buttressed the industry’s growth.

Reuters reported on the wider problem of the rooftop play, Solar Bankruptcies Show US Clean Energy Industry is Teetering on the Brink.” John Berger and the solar cronies owe taxpayers and customers a lot of money–and letters of apology.

Sunnova History

Profuse government grants, loans, and tax breaks supported Sunnova from the beginning. The public needs to know where the money went and why John Berger and a few at the top made out like bandits (rent-seeking), while just about everyone else bit the dust.

My previous Sunnova posts at MasterResource tell the rest of the story:

Industry-leading Adaptive Energy Services Company?

Sunnova’s boilerplate language should perhaps be removed given the perilous legal waters that the company is in. The bankruptcy press release ended:

Sunnova Energy International Inc. (NYSE: NOVA) is an industry-leading adaptive energy services company focused on making clean energy more accessible, reliable, and affordable for homeowners and businesses. Through its adaptive energy platform, Sunnova provides a better energy service at a better price to deliver its mission of powering energy independence™. For more information, visit http://www.sunnova.com.

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[1] “Sunnova intends to continue to monitor, manage, and service solar and storage systems in the ordinary course during the sale process,” yesterday’s press release stated. “The Company plans to communicate directly with customers regarding any material changes that may impact the service and support provided by Sunnova.”

The risk for stranded customers falls to TEPH Subsidiary and ATLAS SP Partners–if they go bust with many contracts that have a decade or more to run, then the customers get to go through some more anxiety and loss. Expect a lot of solar panels to go bad and roof repairs to jump.

Solar Alert! Rooftop Decay, Facility Decommissioning

And you thought that owning a Tesla was ecological …. Imagine that solar roof that now needs attention with the installer AWOL. The solar industry is about to become the least popular in the U.S. with hundreds of thousands of disappointed customers.

Master Resource

By Robert Bradley Jr.

“This is where the next frontier of solar energy lies—not in installing the next 100GW—it’s rescuing the first 100GW.” – Cesar Barbosa (below)

And you thought that owning a Tesla was ecological …. Imagine that solar roof that now needs attention with the installer AWOL. The solar industry is about to become the least popular in the U.S. with hundreds of thousands of disappointed customers.

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Cesar Barbosa is busy in a hot new field–solar decommissioning. And repowering too if the tax credit is still there.

“As the founder of NuLife Power Services,” he states, “I’m proud to lead a nationally recognized company specializing in Repowering, Removal & Reinstallation, and Decommissioning for aging solar assets across North America.”

For me, it’s not just about revitalizing solar systems—it’s about building a strong workforce through solid leadership and investing in people who are driven to make a lasting impact in renewable energy.

The name NuLife reflects our mission: giving aging solar systems—and the teams behind them—a chance to shine.

He adds:

My solar company helps clients manage complex end-of-life challenges, specializing in residential portfolio repairs and commercial repowering. My consulting business empowers business owners and managers to unlock their inner champion through a Christian lens.

Busted Sunnova has thousands of customers under 25-year contracts in California, where Barbosa works. What happens to them? And as other solar companies bite the dust … Removing solar panels is and will be a big business indeed.

Warning! Solar Waste Ahead!

In a recent social media post, Barbosa warned:

A bold prediction no one wants to hear: Half of all commercial solar systems installed before 2016 will be underperforming or non-operational by 2030.

The solar industry is obsessed with the future.
Cutting-edge panels (bigger is better). Sleek batteries. Dazzling projections for new installs.

But here’s the reality we can’t afford to ignore: a silent crisis unfolding on rooftops across America—a crisis I’ve been tackling firsthand since 2012, traveling the country with SunPower to address some of the industry’s most pressing system failures.

Across the country, tens of thousands of rooftop solar systems—once hailed as the clean energy revolution—are quietly decaying. Not because the technology failed, but because the industry did. We rushed to install. We cut corners. We promised 25 years of performance… and delivered systems that can’t make it past 10.

He continues:

Here’s what’s killing them:
Inverters are dying—many are already out of warranty, with no replacements available.

Wiring and electrical infrastructure that was never designed for 25+ years of exposure.

Install quality? Forget it—an army of barely trained crews built the boom, and now we’re paying the price.

Maintenance? There was no plan. Just a contract, a handshake, and a hope it would all work out.

This is not just an engineering issue—it’s a financial one. Underperforming assets are generating less revenue than forecasted, while increasing the risk of electrical faults, fire hazards, and insurance claims.

And here’s the kicker: almost no one is ready to deal with this wave of system failures. Asset managers, facility owners, and even EPCs are discovering that repowering, remediation, or decommissioning is far more complex and expensive than expected.

This is where the next frontier of solar energy lies—not in installing the next 100GW—it’s rescuing the first 100GW.

Revitalization. Repowering. Responsible end-of-life planning. The question isn’t whether it’s coming. It’s whether we have the guts to face it. Are we going to keep pitching the dream—or finally clean up the mess we left behind?

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