Failed Solar Companies (2015-2026): The Graveyard

The graveyard: solar companies that failed in the last 10 years

Residential solar has had a turbulent decade. Boom-and-bust cycles in financing, lead-gen costs, panel pricing, and the residential tax credit (which expired Dec 31, 2025) have driven dozens of large installers out of business. Here's a complete list of major US residential solar companies that have ceased operations, gone bankrupt, or substantially exited the residential market between 2015-2026.

The big collapses

Vivint Solar (folded into Sunrun, 2020)

• What they were: #2 US residential solar installer; ~150,000 customers.
• Acquired by Sunrun in October 2020 for $3.2B all-stock.
• Fate of customers: warranties theoretically transferred to Sunrun. Many existing Vivint customers report difficulty reaching support.
• Why: Sunrun saw scale opportunity; Vivint saw vertical integration into smart home (Vivint parent company).

ADT Solar (ceased Dec 2023)

• What they were: ADT (the security company) acquired Sunpro Solar in 2021 for $825M to expand into residential solar.
• Fate: announced exit from solar business December 2023. Stopped new installations; service continues via authorized partners.
• Why: aggressive expansion + customer acquisition costs + regulatory complexity made the unit unprofitable.
• Customers: ADT continues to honor warranties via service partner network.

Sungevity (Chapter 11, 2017)

• What they were: early online solar sales pioneer (~13,000 systems installed).
• Fate: Chapter 11 March 2017. Assets acquired by Solar Spectrum and others.
• Why: heavy customer-acquisition spending on lead-gen + struggling financing partnerships.

SolarCity / Tesla Solar (radically restructured)

• What they were: #1 US residential installer pre-2016 (~330,000 customers).
• Fate: acquired by Tesla in 2016 for $2.6B in controversial stock deal. Rebranded as Tesla Solar / Tesla Energy. Door-to-door sales force eliminated 2018-2019.
• Now: Tesla Solar exists as part of Tesla Energy but is much smaller scale than SolarCity ever was.
• Why: SolarCity was bleeding cash; Elon Musk's controversial bailout via Tesla.

Pink Energy / Pink Solar (2023 closure)

• What they were: regional installer in Southeast / Mid-Atlantic.
• Fate: ceased operations 2023; multiple state attorney general lawsuits.
• Why: lawsuits over deceptive sales practices, alleged door-to-door fraud, financing markup.

Suntegrity (closed 2023)

• What they were: mid-size California installer.
• Fate: ceased operations 2023.
• Why: California NEM 3.0 transition disrupted business model.

Sunworks (Chapter 11, 2024)

• What they were: commercial & agricultural solar installer (NorCal/CA Central Valley focus).
• Fate: Chapter 11 February 2024.
• Why: margin pressure + commercial slowdown.

Solar Mosaic / SunPower partnership unwinds (2024-2025)

• SunPower Corporation: went into Chapter 11 in 2024. Specific business unit reorganization ongoing.
• Customers: Maxeon Solar (the panel manufacturing arm spun off) continues; SunPower's installation business in turmoil.

SunStreet (ceased 2023)

• What they were: Lennar Corporation's solar arm (homebuilder vertical).
• Fate: Lennar discontinued in 2023.

Erus Energy (closed 2023)

• What they were: Texas / Oklahoma installer.
• Fate: ceased operations 2023.

Sunline Energy (2024)

• What they were: CA / NV mid-size installer.
• Fate: ceased operations 2024.

Powur (acquired into POSIGEN, 2024)

• Powur was acquired/restructured. POSIGEN now serves the affordable-housing solar market.

Trinity Solar (significant restructuring 2024)

• What they were: NJ-based installer, large East Coast presence.
• Trinity has restructured but continues operations under new management.

Brookwood Energy (closed 2024)

• NC/SC regional installer; ceased operations.

Dozens of smaller local installers

Particularly heavy in CA NEM 3.0 transition, FL, AZ, NM, NV. Many small (3-30 employee) installers closed 2023-2024 as residential margins compressed.

Why so many failures?

1. Lead aggregator markup

Lead-generation companies (Modernize, EnergySage referrals, SolarReviews leads) charge installers $50-300 per qualified lead. Conversion rates 5-15%. Effective customer acquisition cost: $1,500-5,000+ per customer. This eats most of the gross margin.

2. Financing markups passed to customers

Loan dealer fees of 25-35% of contract baked into financing. Customers don't see this. Some shut-down installers (Pink Solar, others) faced lawsuits over the practice.

3. Regulatory whiplash

• California NEM 3.0 (2023): cratered residential demand.
• Section 25D residential credit expiration (Dec 31, 2025): demand pull-forward followed by cliff.
• Tariffs on imported panels (Section 201, AD/CVD).
• UFLPA detentions of polysilicon.

4. Panel margin compression

Panel wholesale prices dropped 60-70% since 2018, but retail residential prices barely moved. Installers couldn't capture margin from declining hardware costs (it went to soft costs and customer acquisition).

5. Workforce + operational complexity

Hiring/training NABCEP installers, managing permits across 50 states, supporting service for 25-year systems — expensive to scale.

6. PE-backed roll-ups

Several private-equity-backed companies (Sungevity, ADT Solar) tried aggressive growth-at-all-cost strategies that proved unsustainable.

Companies still standing (2026)

Top national installers (the survivors)

• Sunrun — #1 by customer count, ~$2B revenue.
• Sunnova — ~$650M revenue; struggled in 2024-2025.
• Tesla Solar — smaller but profitable arm of Tesla Energy.
• Trinity Solar — restructured, continuing.
• Palmetto Solar — mid-size operator.
• Freedom Forever — large multi-state.
• Momentum Solar — Northeast / Texas focus.
• POSIGEN — affordable-housing focus, expanded after Powur acquisition.

Strong regional / state-focused installers

Many local 5-20 year-old companies in MN, MA, NY, NJ, CO, TX have weathered the storm with steady customer acquisition + low overhead. See your state's installer page for current top local options.

What the failures teach us

• Don't buy from companies less than 5 years old. Many recent failures were 3-7 year-old growth companies.
• Look for installer with low marketing-to-revenue ratio. Heavy lead-gen spending = high customer cost = financial fragility.
• Local privately-held installers with 10+ years of operating history are typically more stable than VC/PE-backed national companies.
• Always buy SolarInsure SI-30 or equivalent third-party warranty — specifically designed to survive installer default.
• Use FEOC-compliant equipment from major manufacturers (REC, Q Cells, Aiko, Maxeon, Enphase, SolarEdge, Tesla, FranklinWH). These manufacturers will outlive most installers.

If you bought from a now-defunct installer

See my solar installer went out of business for the complete playbook.

Frequently asked questions