William J. (John) Berger

Money Moves

Leading consolidation strategy after Sunnova's collapse

America's residential solar industry continues bleeding out. Over 100 companies filed for bankruptcy or shut down in the past two years—including giants like SunPower and Sunnova, and most recently PosiGen in November 2025—wiped out by interest rate spikes, California's gutting of rooftop solar incentives, and Chinese manufacturers flooding the market with panels at 40% below US production costs. The carnage left 17,000+ workers jobless and thousands of homeowners stuck with orphaned systems. Nearly a month after Otovo's January 8 entry into California, analysts' projections of 13-25% residential installation drops in 2026 appear on track as the customer-owned solar tax credit expired at the end of 2025.

Updated Feb 6