{"id":396714,"date":"2025-08-21T09:50:52","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T07:50:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=396714"},"modified":"2026-04-08T00:00:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T07:00:33","slug":"solar-bankruptcies-the-new-normal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=396714","title":{"rendered":"Solar Bankruptcies: The New Normal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From Master Resource<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Robert Bradley Jr.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cNever again; let the free market choose winners and let government not<\/em> pick losers.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Remember Solyndra<\/a>, a solar panel manufacture that collapsed soon after receiving a $535 million loan guarantee from the US government back in 2011? This company received the U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s first loan guarantee under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, an infamous beginning that embarrassed President Obama and the \u201cgreen\u201d energy industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, 14 years later, the erroneously described<\/a> \u201cinfant\u201d industry is badly listing with its perennial tax subsidies at risk. Grid solar is plagued by failure, with investors facing net zero and employees looking for alternatives. Customers are disgruntled as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enter SolarInsure<\/a>, whose business is about \u201csafeguarding your renewable energy investment with energy system monitoring and warranties.\u201d SolarInsure has compiled a list of bankrupt solar firms in the interest of filling claims for nonperformance. The \u201cComplete List of Solar Bankruptcies and Business Closures<\/a>\u201d begins:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The solar industry experienced exponential growth<\/a> over the last decade as costs fell and favorable policies helped drive mass adoption. However, 2024 has brought immense challenges, with higher interest rates, tighter financing, and adverse policy shifts in key states contributing to over 100 solar bankruptcies based on our industry data, a number unseen before in our almost 20 years in the solar sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

California was particularly hard hit due to new net metering rules under NEM 3.0 that radically reduced system economics. These adverse state policy impacts exacerbated financing shifts, triggering plummeting demand and an 80% decrease in rooftop solar installation volume. The California Solar & Storage Association reports that the fallout includes thousands of stalled projects, over 17,000 industry layoffs<\/a>, and a wave of high-profile bankruptcies.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The note ends:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While stronger players demonstrate some resilience, impacted homeowners and solar employees face prolonged uncertainty. The outright collapse of many once fast-growing solar firms provides a sobering case study on the potential unintended consequences of incentive transitions.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In other words, the wish list enacted by the solar industry in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 created an artificial boom that politics is now reversing. Same for the California Green Dream that was brought back to reality on simple social justice grounds (average ratepayer pain from solar roofs for the well-off and highly educated).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The casualty list (cumulative, below) is large, and it will grow as state and federal subsidies contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In comparison, oil and gas insolvencies, which peaked during the 2020 Pandemic, have been less in a far larger industry than solar. [1]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Major Solar Bankruptcies as of June 2025 Include:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n