is...waitin' on a dollar
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Sungevity is teaming up with re-volv
Dear Friends of RE-volv,
It's summertime and the living is easy! Make it even easier on yourself by going solar with Sungevity and RE-volv.
If you're a homeowner interested in putting solar on your rooftop, sign up for a free quote now from Sungevity. If you go solar by June 30, you'll get $1,000 off your system price and $1,000 goes to RE-volv.
Sungevity is an innovative residential solar provider servicing CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, NC, MA, MD, NJ, NM, NY, RI, & VT.
Request a solar quote!
Thank you for your support!
All the Best,
The RE-volv Team
*Offer valid for new customers only through June 30, 2016. Offer is non-transferable and cannot be combined with other offers or promotions, or redeemed for cash. A donation of $1000 will be made to RE-volv within 30-90 days of interconnection.
Copyright © 2016 RE-volv, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you subscribed to our mailing list.
Our mailing address is:
RE-volv
5 Third Street
Suite 900
San Francisco, CA 94103
Could always be worse. They could always burn the crap out of you. Funny how our interest in the big money maker in the sky could also be our worst nightmare. (Besides toxic dilution, of course)
Enphase's Broadened Battery Offering Off To A Good Start $ENPH
http://www.seekingalpha.com/article/3986454
Power Player
TeslaCity: Will car company + solar company = shareholder happiness?
David Crane
Tuesday, July 5, 2016 - 2:11am
GreenBiz
As I watch all the Wall Street teeth-gnashing over the proposed related party transaction between Tesla and SolarCity, I wonder whether there is a shortcut that enables everyone to focus on the substantial commercial merits of the transaction.
Let’s go back to the day that all of this started, October 29, 2015 to be exact, when Solar City guided its investors down to a 41% percent growth rate for 2016. SolarCity was brutalized the next day by a massive share sell of, shaving billions of dollars off its market cap. At that point, it became inevitable that SolarCity’s days as a publicly traded company were numbered.
The unmistakable market signal on that day was that SolarCity, despite its many inherent market strengths and despite being a beneficiary of the Elon Musk halo effect, would not be permitted to pull an "Amazon" — that is, attract a valuation that defied traditional valuation metrics.
Yet, notwithstanding SolarCity's poor scoring on traditional financial metrics, it is equally ridiculous to think that as the market leader, with no meaningful competition for supremacy, in a trillion-dollar-plus addressable market, it has only a $2 billion market cap.
Impossible reboot?
The disconnect is in SolarCity's business model. To attract institutional investors, at a respectable market value, SolarCity needs to reboot its business model away from the strategy that vaulted it to its unassailable leadership position in the burgeoning home solar industry. And a reboot is nearly impossible for a high-growth public company to do under the harsh glare of investor scrutiny and relentless quarter-on-quarter reporting.
What does SolarCity need to do to reboot? In short, a lot: a new approach to customer acquisition — door-to-door has reached its limits, particularly when you are selling a service with a $20-30,000 average value; a greater focus on the customer experience; and ditto with respect to the after-sale upsell.
But, most of all, SolarCity needed a quick phase-out of zero-money-down, long-term-lease financing, a funding arrangement which once was essential to the kickstarting of the entire industry, but has mutated into the crack cocaine of home solar companies that still depend upon it.
Lyndon Rive and Tanguy Serra — the company’s CEO and CFO, respectively — probably don't agree with everything said in the previous paragraph, but even if they did, to implement all those changes would risk another selloff like the one they experienced last November.
The primary motivation for the proposed transaction is that it enables SolarCity to reboot outside the public eye.
Why? Because a radical reboot of the type I described almost certainly would lead to a substantial reduction, at least temporarily, in their topline sales. So, why industry analysts are focusing increasingly on the very real commercial benefits of the proposed transaction to SolarCity — the cross-selling benefit with Tesla and a branding benefit which I think is being significantly underestimated — I belive the primary motivation for the proposed transaction is that it enables SolarCity to reboot outside the public eye.
Being bought by Tesla is, of course, not the same as fully going private. But if SolarCity is just 10 percent of the combined company, there will be many fewer questions from analysts and investors about what SolarCity, now Tesla's home solar division, is doing — as opposed to, say, how the Model 3 is progressing. Tesla remains, after all, overwhelmingly a car company post-transaction, and the car business will remain the primary focus of its analysts and investors.
Of course, that is the potential snag in the transaction. Up until the announcement, Tesla investors thought they were investing in a car company — a company entire focused on disrupting GM and Ford and the other incumbent automakers. Now the disconcerted Tesla shareholder base is finding out they have invested in a mobility-energy storage-solar conglomerate.
On top of this "October surprise" in June, there will be corporate governance, management bandwidth, conglomerate discount and availability/allocation of capital issues when all these money-hungry clean energy businesses are under one roof.
On top of this "October surprise" in June, there will be corporate governance, management bandwidth, conglomerate discount and availability/allocation of capital issues when all these money-hungry clean energy businesses soon to be weighing down one balance sheet. When you put them all together, there still is some chance that the deal won’t get approved by Tesla's independent shareholders.
Jamming the deal
Musk's force of personality is such that he has the ability to jam the deal through on the terms announced. Tesla shareholders will realize that they are in a damned-if-we-don't, damned-if-we-do position and will probably vote “yes,” even if they resent doing so. The question that needs to be asked in the Tesla/SolarCity governance world is, is it worth it to Musk to dissipate the reservoir of personal goodwill that he has built up with his institutional investors on a home solar transaction?
That is a reservoir he might need down the road, should Tesla stumble in an area more directly related to the success of its core automotive business.
For SolarCity, the dangers are more subtle. We all watched Vivant whither on the vine as it waited, in vain, to be acquired by SunEdison. What will happen to sales, financings and product development while SolarCity waits for the results of this uncertain shareholder vote? If the deal is rejected, a wounded SolarCity will be "in play." Indeed, the investment bankers already are shopping it. The multi-month pendency of an uncertain transaction hurts SolarCity at a time when it cannot afford to be treading water.
By offering Tesla investors a way off the horns of the dilemma, the deal gets done quickly and Musk adds to his aura as a shareholder friendly visionary with a reservoir of goodwill .
I wonder whether there is a shortcut to a win-win-win outcome for all involved, whereby Tesla takes on one or two partners, maybe a financial partner but certainly a strategic one, to do the same transaction with SolarCity that Tesla currently contemplates doing single handedly. Partners would preserve the commercial benefits of the transaction to SolarCity and enable Tesla to secure a portion of the solar company’s bargain-value price, while substantially mitigating most if not all of the governance, balance sheet and conglomerate drawbacks of the full consolidation acquisition.
Perhaps most importantly, by offering Tesla investors a way off the horns of the dilemma that they currently are confronted with, the deal gets done quickly and Musk adds to his current mystique as a shareholder friendly visionary with a reservoir, deep and untapped, of goodwill that can be called upon at a later date.
The ultimate success of the Musk complex of companies is important to the clean-energy industry and to society. Both the auto and energy sectors are dominated by well-financed incumbents, steeped in their own histories, with a stake in maintaining the status quo. A competitive threat from a rising contender will prompt them to change their ways much more quickly and completely than the threat of government action or public protest ever would. Certainly, Tesla is that contender in the automotive sector. And in the power industry, after the flame out of SunEdison, SolarCity is as close as it gets.
We do not want them to fail.
The Solar Revolution On The Residential Rooftop - Enphase Vs. SolarEdge $ENPH
http://www.seekingalpha.com/article/3986146
Two important factors here...
http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/07/01/this-week-in-solar.aspx
Explosive weekend in more ways than one?
Obviously not enough. UP we go!
New competition coming to a NASDAQ near you.
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Sungevity-Goes-Public-Via-Merger-With-Easterly-Acquisition-a-Blank-Check-F
Sunworks, Inc. Announces Adjournment of Annual Shareholder Meeting with Respect to Charter Amendments
Roseville, CA – (Marketwired-June 29, 2016) – Sunworks, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW), a leading provider of solar power solutions, announced that at its 2016 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, held earlier today, its stockholders voted to approve the re-election of the Company’s Board of Directors, the Sunworks, Inc. 2016 Equity Incentive Plan and the ratification of the Company’s independent registered public accountants. The meeting was adjourned with respect to the amendments to the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation, which would grant to the Company’s Board of Directors the power to amend the Company’s Bylaws and permit a majority of the directors of the Company to fix the size of the Board of Directors to a maximum of 15 directors. The meeting will reconvene on July 12, 2016, allowing stockholders additional time to vote on the Charter amendments.
During the pendency of the adjourned meeting, shareholders holding shares as of the record date of May 13, 2016, who have not yet voted are encouraged to vote.
The adjourned meeting will be held on July 12, 2016 at 10 a.m. EDT at Sichenzia Ross Friedman Ference LLP, 61 Broadway, 32nd Floor, New York, New York 10006.
The Company encourages all stockholders who have not yet voted to do so before July 11, 2016 at 11.59 p.m. EDT. The beneficial stockholders (those stockholders whose shares are held in an account at a brokerage firm, bank, dealer or other similar organization) may vote by internet at www.proxyvote.com, or by telephone at 800-454-8683. Record holders may vote by internet at www.cstproxyvote.com or by telephone at 866-894-0537. Only stockholders of record on the record date of May 13, 2016 are entitled to and are being requested to vote. Proxies previously submitted in respect of the meeting will be voted at the adjourned meeting unless properly revoked.
No changes have been made in the proposals to be voted on by stockholders at the annual meeting. The Company's proxy statement and any other materials filed by the Company with the SEC remain unchanged and can be obtained free of charge at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
About Sunworks, Inc.
Sunworks, (formerly known as Solar3D) a leading provider of solar power solutions, is focused on the design, installation and management of solar power systems for commercial, agricultural and residential customers. Sunworks, is one of the fastest growing solar systems providers in the western United States, delivering 2.5 kilowatt to multi-megawatt commercial systems. The Company's mission is to further the widespread adoption of solar power by deploying affordable, state-of-the-art systems and developing breakthrough new solar technologies. The Company's focus is on putting the customer first, providing the best value systems in the industry, and delivering on what is promised.
Safe Harbor Statement
Matters discussed in this press release contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "may," "intend," "expect" and similar expressions identify such forward-looking statements. Actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those contemplated, expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained herein. These forward-looking statements are based largely on the expectations of the Company and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. These risks include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties associated with: the impact of economic, competitive and other factors affecting the Company and its operations, markets, products, and prospects for sales, failure to commercialize our technology, failure of technology to perform as expected, failure to earn profit or revenue, higher costs than expected, persistent operating losses, ownership dilution, inability to repay debt, failure of acquired businesses to perform as expected, the impact on the national and local economies resulting from terrorist actions, and U.S. actions subsequently; and other factors detailed in reports filed by the Company.
Contact:
Corporate
Seth Atchue
916-409-6900
satchue@sunworksusa.com
Investor Relations
Rob Fink/John Roginski
Hayden IR
646-415-8972 / 570-569-2479
rob@haydenir.com / john@haydenir.com
Not sure about dumps. I have been buying at between 2.25 and 2.20 and it hasn't been easy to get anyone to drop a penny let alone dump shares. I can't believe we have another opportunity at these levels. BUY!!!
This market day has been much more boring than what I had expected. Very few of my clean energy holdings are down near as much as I had hoped. I haven't seen this as much of a buy opportunity (yet) and wonder if the brexit hoopla will fizzle out. My daily entries haven't even gotten close. Like most days, they are just sitting there no closer to a buy.
YAWN!
Tesla’s Plan to Buy SolarCity Has Major Flaws
Deal Professor
By STEVEN DAVIDOFF SOLOMON
The market hates the idea of Tesla Motors acquiring SolarCity.
After Tesla’s announcement on Tuesday of a $2.8 billion offer to acquire SolarCity, Tesla’s stock was down more than 8 percent early Wednesday morning, more than the total market capitalization of SolarCity itself. The market is ascribing a negative value to this possible acquisition.
The reaction reflects two things.
Solar City is a maker of solar energy products, basically home and business solar panels. Tesla is a maker of battery-powered cars, though some view the company’s battery-making component as its bigger future.
To Elon Musk, the chairman of SolarCity and the chief executive of Tesla, putting together these two different businesses is “blindingly obvious” and a “no-brainer.” A blog post on the Tesla website explained the reasons:
We would be the world’s only vertically integrated energy company offering end-to-end clean energy products to our customers. This would start with the car that you drive and the energy that you use to charge it, and would extend to how everything else in your home or business is powered.
In other words, the deal makes sense because people who buy Tesla’s cars also want solar power. In a combined company, they can get it in the same place.
The market is not buying it.
To investors, it is as if the Walt Disney Company bought a birthing center business to offer “end-to-end” service for its parent customers. It’s not clear that Tesla owners will really want to buy solar panels, or that if they did, it would be in sufficient number.
And SolarCity is hardly a growth business these days. Both companies are burning cash. SolarCity went through $2.6 billion last year, while Tesla spent $2.2 billion. SolarCity’s business model is struggling as cheap energy shakes up the solar market. So the acquisition is being viewed not so much as a “no-brainer” but as a bailout of SolarCity by Tesla, one that may sink both companies.
The idea would be dismissed as yet another Silicon Valley lark (although who knows whether the visionary Mr. Musk is right), but there is a second problem with this deal. It’s a bit of a corporate governance nightmare.
Mr. Musk owns 21 percent of Tesla and 22 percent of SolarCity, according to Standard & Poor’s Global Market Intelligence. His cousin, Lyndon Rive, is a founder and the chief executive of SolarCity.
Given the troubles of SolarCity, the appearance is that Mr. Musk is bailing SolarCity out while profiting handsomely. He will be paid a premium by Tesla for a company in which he is the biggest shareholder, one that the market at least views as outside the business of Tesla.
Today, companies are separated into makers of ball bearings and makers of steel because even they are viewed as being too different. Only in Silicon Valley could a cross-industry acquisition like this even possibly fly.
Tesla did announce some procedures to deal with this conflict. Mr. Musk recused himself from the deliberations at Tesla and Mr. Rive said the same thing at SolarCity. In addition, Tesla said that any deal would be subject to approval by a majority of its disinterested shareholders.
This is part of the standard procedure in conflict situations. The general idea is that each company forms a committee of independent directors with its own advisers and legal counsel. This would ensure approval of the disinterested directors. Then any deal itself would be subject to approval of the disinterested shareholders. The State of Delaware, where a majority of American companies are incorporated, technically requires only that either the disinterested directors or disinterested shareholders approve the deal, but the standard practice is to do both.
Even so, Tesla is not following this standard procedure. It does not appear that Tesla or SolarCity truly formed an independent committee or hired independent counsel, but instead opted for a recusal. (Another director on both boards, Antonio J. Gracias, also recused himself.)
That is sufficient for Delaware law, but the optics are not great.
Indeed, one of the actions Tesla took on Tuesday was to amend its bylaws to require all shareholder litigation to be filed in Delaware. It knows the lawsuits are coming.
So this deal suffers from some significant defects at the get-go. It should have been structured more formally and put through the stricter process of a formal special committee. This is particularly true after the recent ruling in the Dell appraisal proceedings, in which Dell did everything it could to structure the management buyout to the highest standards, and the Delaware court still found fault with the process.
A bigger issue is the shareholder approval requirement. Tesla is issuing shares, but it does not technically need shareholder approval for the issuance because buying SolarCity will not require it to issue more than 20 percent of its outstanding float, the point at which stock exchange rules require a vote.
Institutional shareholders, however, hold 63.57 percent of Tesla. It is hard to see them liking this deal. Tesla is also a darling of day traders. These short-term holders want the stock to go up, and voting no on the deal is a way to get the shares to rise.
Given the reaction, it is hard to see how a deal like this can happen now.
In the end, Tesla’s offer appears destined to die as quickly as a fruit fly, in part because it does not make sense to the market, but also because the announcement and the structuring show a poor understanding of public relations.
Indeed, it almost seems as if this is an offer intended to horrify institutional investors.
Chalk it up to the sometimes stifling exuberance of Silicon Valley, where founders think they can do anything until they can’t.
OUCH
"...SolarCity has been buffeted by changes in solar energy regulations - local policies have cut into the savings that solar providers have promised. Its troubles have left the company with a $2.6 billion in long-term debt and growing losses. Last year, interest payments on its debt equaled nearly a quarter of its sales."
Yep a lot happening here!
Sunworks' Patent for Its Solar3D Cell to Be Granted by Chinese Patent Office
http://m.pv-magazine.com/press-releases/details/beitrag/sunworks-patent-for-its-solar3d-cell-to-be-granted-by-chinese-patent-office_100024890/
U.S. solar market on track for a record-breaking year
http://m.pv-magazine.com/press-releases/details/beitrag/us-solar-market-on-track-for-a-record-breaking-year_100024893/
12 Increased Institutional Holders
304,107 Increased Total Shares Held
Click on the column header links to resort ascending (?) or descending (?).
Owner Name Date Shared Held Change (Shares) Change (%) Value (in 1,000s)
VANGUARD GROUP INC 03/31/2016 377,958 147,283 63.85 922
SYMMETRY PEAK MANAGEMENT LLC 03/31/2016 149,963 100,514 203.27 366
A.R.T. ADVISORS, LLC 03/31/2016 21,216 21,216 New 52
BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON CORP 03/31/2016 18,414 3,026 19.67 45
CITADEL ADVISORS LLC 03/31/2016 16,011 16,011 New 39
BARCLAYS PLC 03/31/2016 7,400 7,400 New 18
ACROSPIRE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LLC 03/31/2016 5,439 5,439 New 13
WALLEYE TRADING LLC 03/31/2016 2,500 2,500 New 6
TOWER RESEARCH CAPITAL LLC (TRC) 03/31/2016 792 231 41.18 2
LADENBURG THALMANN FINANCIAL SERVICES INC 03/31/2016 385 385 New 1
MORGAN STANLEY 03/31/2016 214 100 87.72 1
BANK OF AMERICA CORP /DE/ 03/31/2016
http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/sunw/institutional-holdings/increased
Replies(1) | Previous | Next
Search:
Most recent deck filed with the June date
Sunworks' Patent for Its Solar3D Cell to Be Granted by Chinese Patent Office
http://m.pv-magazine.com/press-releases/details/beitrag/sunworks-patent-for-its-solar3d-cell-to-be-granted-by-chinese-patent-office_100024890/
U.S. solar market on track for a record-breaking year
http://m.pv-magazine.com/press-releases/details/beitrag/us-solar-market-on-track-for-a-record-breaking-year_100024893/
12 Increased Institutional Holders
304,107 Increased Total Shares Held
Click on the column header links to resort ascending (?) or descending (?).
Owner Name Date Shared Held Change (Shares) Change (%) Value (in 1,000s)
VANGUARD GROUP INC 03/31/2016 377,958 147,283 63.85 922
SYMMETRY PEAK MANAGEMENT LLC 03/31/2016 149,963 100,514 203.27 366
A.R.T. ADVISORS, LLC 03/31/2016 21,216 21,216 New 52
BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON CORP 03/31/2016 18,414 3,026 19.67 45
CITADEL ADVISORS LLC 03/31/2016 16,011 16,011 New 39
BARCLAYS PLC 03/31/2016 7,400 7,400 New 18
ACROSPIRE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LLC 03/31/2016 5,439 5,439 New 13
WALLEYE TRADING LLC 03/31/2016 2,500 2,500 New 6
TOWER RESEARCH CAPITAL LLC (TRC) 03/31/2016 792 231 41.18 2
LADENBURG THALMANN FINANCIAL SERVICES INC 03/31/2016 385 385 New 1
MORGAN STANLEY 03/31/2016 214 100 87.72 1
BANK OF AMERICA CORP /DE/ 03/31/2016
http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/sunw/institutional-holdings/increased
So, "Fresno" was asked if it were awarded pending approval. The respondent states it went before the council for consideration and was to be re-visited. The respondent is answering AFTER the pending approval was delayed and not approved. Seems to me "Fresno" does not state the contract wasn't awarded pending approval, but instead wasnt approved by council and therefore no contract was ultimately awarded. How it can be read otherwise is concerning. Seems to be a pattern of intentional factual disconnects being provided.
That's the way it goes. Once something on the list of detractions goes the other way and it becomes a positive then it's time to go back into the bag. "Institutions won't touch this stock" Then when we have a greater than 30% increase in the latest reporting period it becomes "retail won't touch it". Or it was "the companies patent applications are a joke and an embarrassment and won't ever be awarded" and now it looks like one will be awarded and the company has made a strong effort to address the concerns of the US patent examiner. So now it has become, "the company lied when they said they were awarded the Fresno contract" (leave out "pending approval")
I just see the big picture of what's being built and revel in the fact I got in early and steadily add to my position along the way. (Another 1000 shares today.....but retail won't touch it)
I can't wait for the colossal squeeze which will inevitably come. Fun days ahead!
LONG SUNW and SUNWW
Ok, let's do the math. I have an ice cream truck and I have it parked at a little league ball field where you and your young daughter are spectators. You walk up to the truck and notice a sign which states all sales are decided upon by a committee vote. (it takes my entire family to ok each sale) Now you want an Italian ice (I used to like the grape flavored) and you are the only customer at my truck. You speak to me and we talk about the price. Knowing you are the only customer and it says $1 you feel confident not because you have $3, but because again you are the only customer. Your daughter is pleased because after a bit of conversation I agree to sell you the Italian ice and you tell her it's almost hers. However, I make it clear that the rest of my family went in to use the facilities and they need to vote. Upon their review of the sale they bring up concerns that your daughter may not be from the area around the field and say they want to give other kids around the neighborhood a chance to purchase the treat. Sucks for you, but the decisions are made by committee.
Now, if SUNWorks were told by the representatives at the Clovis WWT facility in charge of the requested project that they are the only bid and the open period has past, therefore all that needs to happen is for the council to vote the award up or down. In their eyes they have it in the bag "pending approval". Sucks for SUNWorks, but seeing they were the only bidder, but the decisions are made by the council.
In either case I don't consider you or SUNWorks to have lied based on the information you were provided. You just were dealing with two organizations where both are run inefficiently. You can question how they PR'd it, but just like you talked to someone at Freano so did they. I have no reason to believe you and I have more experience with Jim Nelson and his honorable intentions. Simple fact is your claims don't even register with me based in the selective nature of your information.
And people complain about the SUNWorks executive compensation!?!? Talk about not earning your pay!!
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/solarcity-ceo-lyndon-rives-salary-is-77-million.-mark-zuckerbergs-is-5-mill
You forgot the rest of the quoted statement, but I guess that fits an incomplete narrative.
"...was recently awarded and executed a contract on a $10 million, 2-megawatt solar project, the final approval of which is subject to the city council's vote."
Technology - Top 5 Gainers / Losers as of 3:00 pm
Jun. 6, 2016 3:00 PM • SA Editor Jignesh Mehta
Gainers: CBR +30%. YGE +27%. ENPH +14%. PTI +13%. BITA +12%.
Losers: BOSC -13%. CUDA -9%. GIG -8%. PNTR -5%. SPCB -5%.
janeyH...I don't know. Seems to be following some of the larger solar plays today. Nothing crossed my alerts.
Sunworks Expands Into Oregon
CEO, Sunworks Inc
Opens Oregon Division, Broadening Geographic Reach and Bringing Customer-Focused Solar Solutions to Oregon Residents and Businesses
ROSEVILLE, CA (June 1, 2016) -- Sunworks, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW), a leading provider of solar power solutions, today announced the opening of its Southern Oregon Office, signaling a strategic expansion of the Company’s geographic reach. Sunworks is now providing high efficiency, low cost solar solutions to homes and businesses in the region, establishing itself as a driver of sustainability throughout yet another high-growth market.
Sunworks is a natural fit for the region, having established a strong track record throughout California and Nevada. With an abundance of opportunities for large scale projects in Southern Oregon, the opportunity to expand into the high growth market aligns with Sunworks’ strategic growth plan. Solarpowerrocks.com ranks Oregon as the fifth-most solar friendly state in the US.
Sunworks has always placed an emphasis in promoting education within the marketplace, providing accurate and informative solar proposals for customers spanning commercial, residential, and agricultural sectors. The Company will utilize its ability to offer premium systems at a low price point together with generous state incentives to support its business in the new market.
As a designated Oregon Energy Trade Ally, taking advantage of all incentives such as federal tax credits, accelerated depreciation and the Oregon Energy Trust, Sunworks is well-positioned to quickly establish itself as the premium local solar integrator.
“We look forward to providing our widely-recognized solar expertise to save homeowners and businesses millions of dollars in energy costs while creating valuable jobs at the local level,” said Kirk Short, V.P. of Commercial Solar at Sunworks, Inc.
“Economics are the driving factor behind establishing a presence in Southern Oregon, creating significant opportunity for Sunworks,” said Jim Nelson, CEO of Sunworks, Inc. “We believe customers deserve the best service, products, prices, and warranties that the industry has to offer, all of which Sunworks can provide to businesses and homeowners. The customer-centric Sunworks Advantage is a value ingrained into the way we conduct business, further establishing ourselves as a premier solar provider in the region. Opportunities to add value to the customer will be the driving factor for Sunworks as we continue to expand our footprint nationally.”
About Sunworks, Inc.
Sunworks, (formerly known as Solar3D) a leading provider of solar power solutions, is focused on the design, installation and management of solar power systems for commercial, agricultural and residential customers. Sunworks is one of the fastest growing solar systems providers in the western United States, delivering 2.5 kilowatt to multi-megawatt commercial systems. The Company's mission is to further the widespread adoption of solar power by deploying affordable, state-of-the-art systems and developing breakthrough new solar technologies. The Company's focus is on putting the customer first, providing the best value systems in the industry, and delivering on what is promised.
To learn more about Sunworks, visit our website at http://sunworksusa.com/.
Safe Harbor Statement
Matters discussed in this press release contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "may," "intend," "expect" and similar expressions identify such forward-looking statements. Actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those contemplated, expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained herein. These forward-looking statements are based largely on the expectations of the Company and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. These risks include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties associated with: the impact of economic, competitive and other factors affecting the Company and its operations, markets, products, and prospects for sales, failure to commercialize our technology, failure of technology to perform as expected, failure to earn profit or revenue, higher costs than expected, persistent operating losses, ownership dilution, inability to repay debt, failure of acquired businesses to perform as expected, the impact on the national and local economies resulting from terrorist actions, and U.S. actions subsequently; and other factors detailed in reports filed by the Company.
- ### -
Press contact information:
Seth Atchue
916-409-6900
satchue@sunworksusa.com
Investor Relations Contact:
Rob Fink/John Roginski
Hayden IR
646-415-8972 / 570-569-2479?
rob@haydenir.com / john@haydenir.com
The Wall Street Journal
BUSINESS
Solar Panel Leasing Decreases as More Customers Look to Buy
Falling equipment prices and more availability of loans are making purchasing increasingly cost effective
Workers install solar panels for SolarCity on the roof of a home. More companies are offering loans to consumers that is making buying more achievable and cost effective.
Workers install solar panels for SolarCity on the roof of a home. More companies are offering loans to consumers that is making buying more achievable and cost effective. PHOTO: SERGIO FLORES/BLOOMBERG NEWS
SHARE
By Cassandra Sweet
May 30, 2016 5:11 p.m. ET
Companies such as SolarCity Corp. and Sunrun Inc. that rapidly expanded by leasing solar panels to U.S. homeowners now face stiff competition from smaller upstarts that sell the units to customers instead.
SolarCity, Sunrun and Vivint Solar Inc. together supplied 56% of the home-solar market in the U.S. last year, primarily with leases, according to GTM Research, which tracks renewable-energy markets.
They are on track to serve just 50% this year, according to GTM, as smaller companies such as Sunworks Inc. and PetersenDean Inc. that offer loans to purchase the panels pick up more business.
Solar leases and similar contracts, known as power-purchase agreements, accounted for 72% of home-solar sales in 2014, but their share is projected to drop to 48% by 2017, according to GTM. The companies also install panels at commercial properties. Leasing became a popular way for customers to obtain home solar panels without having to come up with the large upfront amounts needed to buy a system.
Six-kilowatt systems currently cost between $21,000 and $25,800, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association and GTM.
It is a profitable model for companies, which collect lease payments from customers every month for about 20 years, under contracts that often increase payment amounts each year. For example, a California homeowner might pay $17,500 to buy an average-size five-kilowatt system, whereas? a 20-year lease with monthly payments that start at $150 and increase ?2.9% a year would have lease payments totaling about $36,600.For consumers, owning the panels can bring greater long-term savings, and more companies have begun offering loans, making buying more achievable and cost effective.
Dozens of lenders now offer consumer loans for solar panels, with interest rates between about 3% and 9%, whereas a few years ago, such loans were more difficult to find. SolarCity—whose chairman is billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who also leads Tesla Motors Inc . and Space Exploration Technologies Inc.—has been unprofitable each year since it went public in 2012. The company has a market value of about $2.3 billion, according to FactSet.
The San Mateo, Calif.-based company started offering solar loans again in May, in addition to leases, after initially trying them last year before withdrawing them because of a lack of demand.
“We got a lot of feedback from customers who wanted simpler terms and fixed payments,” said SolarCity Chief Executive Lyndon Rive, referring to the loans.
SolarCity’s stock price is down 53% this year to about $23.74. The company reported a first-quarter net loss of $25 million, 16% more than a year earlier.
It also cut its forecast for 2016 panel installations to 1,000-1,100 megawatts, from an earlier prediction of 1,250 megawatts in February.
Sunrun likely will increase the number of solar panels it sells this year for cash or through a loan to 20% of sales from 15% last year, although the company is still focused on leases, said Sunrun Chief Executive Lynn Jurich.
“The lease has really maintained a pretty dominant share,” she said earlier in May during a conference call with analysts to discuss the company’s first-quarter financial results.
Sunrun posted a first-quarter net profit of $13 million, compared with a year-earlier loss of $18 million. The company’s stock is down 49% year-to-date at about $6.
Solar leasing is losing market share because consumers are doing their homework and are discovering viable alternate options, said Michael Morosi, an analyst at Avondale Partners in Nashville.
“The customer is more informed, and is exposed not only to SolarCity because their neighbor has it, but five other solar companies that are all active in the marketplace,” he said.
Smaller companies, such as Sunworks and PetersenDean in California and Trinity Solar in New Jersey, are gaining because falling prices for panels and other equipment are making purchasing more affordable, and a growing group of lenders, such as Admirals Bank and Solar Mosaic Inc. offer home-solar loans.
“Most of our customers spend time researching solar and looking into how it can benefit them,” said PetersenDean CEO Jim Petersen. “The lease is not a good product, it does not save money for consumers.”
?Closely held PetersenDean installs more than 1,000 arrays a month and is on track to double its business this year, for the second straight year, he said.
Among those choosing to buy panels are Gale Webber and her husband Michael, who in September bought a four-kilowatt panel for their Galt, Calif., home for $16,000 from PetersenDean. A $5,000 federal tax credit knocked the cost down to $11,000.
The Webbers initially signed a 20-year lease with SolarCity after a friend recommended the company. But when SolarCity sent the couple a contract that included monthly payments of $280, nearly double the company’s initial offer and more than they were paying for their utility, they canceled the lease.
“I can’t believe people sign with those people,” Ms. Webber said, adding that her monthly utility bill is now about $100, roughly half what it was before her panels were installed. “They don’t realize in 20 years they’ll have this huge bill.”
SolarCity spokesman Jonathan Bass said a software glitch gave Mrs. Webber the wrong pricing, and by the time the company got back to her she had become frustrated and went to another provider.
Write to Cassandra Sweet at Cassandra.Sweet@wsj.com
TOP«
Wall Street Journal
Edition:
WSJ Membership Benefits
Download WSJ Apps
Customer Center
Legal Policies
Facebook
Twitter
Google+
YouTube
Podcasts
Snapchat
Google Play
App Store
Windows 10
Copyright ©2016Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.