Bankruptcy Filings from Sunnova and Mosaic Signal Deeper Residential Solar Struggles

Sunnova and Mosaic now join a growing list of U.S. residential solar firms filing for Chapter 11 amid industry headwinds. In 2024, companies like SunPower and Lumio also declared bankruptcy, while Titan Solar Power abruptly shut down operations in June 2024.

Following its own Chapter 11 filing in August 2024, SunPower entered an agreement to sell key assets—including its Blue Raven Solar, New Homes, and non-installing dealer operations—to Complete Solaria for $45 million. Complete Solaria, the product of a merger between Solaria Corporation and Complete Solar, has since rebranded itself as SunPower and adopted the ticker symbol SPWR.

Looking ahead, the U.S. residential solar market is poised to face additional setbacks. The Reconciliation Bill, currently under Senate review, proposes accelerating the expiration of Section 25D residential tax credits to the end of 2025, among other industry-affecting provisions.

In California, a leading state for home solar, the State Assembly’s Appropriations Committee has advanced Bill AB 942, which seeks to implement drastic changes to net metering. If enacted, the policy—effective January 1, 2026—could result in a 75% reduction in net metering payouts for new homeowners, compared to previous NEM schemes.

Despite California leading the nation in new residential solar installations in Q1 2025 with 255 MW, this marked the state’s lowest quarterly total since Q3 2020, according to data from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). Nationally, residential solar installations fell 13% year-over-year and 4% quarter-on-quarter, with 1.1 GW deployed in Q1 2025.