The roof is buckling for solar panel companies. Last summer, SunPower, a big residential installer, filed for bankruptcy protection. One of its rivals, Sunnova, has warned it may be next.
Longer interest rates and an American president hostile to anything resembling clean energy are a toxic combination for companies with burdened balance sheets. Sunnova has $8bn of long-term debt. Its market capitalisation has shrivelled to just $40mn. A chunk of convertible bonds soon coming due cannot be repaid or refinanced, the company said recently.
For Americans in warm-weather states, the appeal of solar is glaringly obvious. On average, installing solar panels on top of homes or businesses costs about $20,000, according to EnergySage, a clean energy marketplace. But that total is much less than the cost of buying electricity from the grid for years.