Sunnova cuts 15% of workforce to ‘focus on capital efficiency’

Solar services company Sunnova Energy announced it would cut 300 jobs to reduce costs and streamline its operations.

Credit: Sunnova

The 300 layoffs are mostly in its commercial organization and represent 15% of the company’s total workforce. Sunnova will have $35 million in annual cash savings due to the job cuts.

Sunnova said it is positioning itself for long-term success in an evolving market that is currently facing high interest rates and policy uncertainty.

“As we continue to focus on capital efficiency and our high-margin core customers through TPO origination, we must always optimize within the current economic and policy landscape,” said John Berger, Sunnova CEO. “To better position Sunnova for long-term success, we are taking proactive steps to streamline our operations while maintaining a strong foundation to support our valued dealer network and end-use customers. These decisions are never easy, and we recognize the impact they have on every member of the team. To those who will not be moving forward with us, we are committed to providing support during this transition and deeply appreciate all they have given to our organization. We are deeply grateful for their contributions and are committed to supporting those affected during this transition.”

Sunnova works with local solar installation companies to offer customers solar through third-party ownership (TPO) contracts. Customers lease their solar projects from Sunnova. Last year, Sunnova mandated that all of its solar projects qualify for domestic content, providing solar installers with a limited number of American-made solar products to complete projects. Sunnova said this move would support domestic manufacturing, but it also allows Sunnova to claim a larger investment tax credit amount on the TPO projects.