US residential solar installer Sunnova is broadening its service offering in areas such as battery storage and electric vehicle charging as it bids to double its customer count over the next two years.
In its Q3 results published yesterday (27 October), the installer revealed it added 14,000 customers between July and September 2021, double the number added in the same quarter last year, bringing its total customer count to 176,900.
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In prepared remarks ahead of a conference call, CEO William J. Berger said the growth is notable for the optionality it creates: “Each new customer Sunnova adds presents the opportunity for additional revenues in the future as we continue to broaden our service offerings.”
He added: “This could not be a more opportune time for our industry, especially for service providers like Sunnova. What was once often seen as an ‘install and forget’ product sale, dealing only in solar panels and a single inverter, has now become an evolving energy service offering that contains an increasing number of pieces of equipment made by a growing number of manufacturers.”
Sunnova earlier this week revealed a new partnership with electric vehicle (EV) charging provider ChargePoint that will enable homeowners to power their vehicles with clean energy from rooftop solar systems.
This follows a similar deal announced in July by rival installer SunPower, which has become the preferred solar and storage provider for customers of EV charging provider Wallbox.
As Sunnova looks to provide consumers more energy reliability for their homes, Berger said the company is working to achieve an offering that integrates solar, battery storage, possible secondary generation, EV charging, and energy control and management technologies.
Having seen energy storage attachment rates fall to 19% in Q4 of 2020 due to supply constraints, improved equipment availability meant this figure jumped to 30% in the most recent quarter. Berger said the company is encouraged by the progress its equipment partners have made in delivering energy storage systems in recent months, which has helped alleviate supply chain constraints. “This is great news for the ever-increasing number of homeowners seeking reliable power service.”
Sunnova reported a 37% year-on-year rise in revenues in Q3, reaching US$68.9 million, thanks in part to an increase in the number of solar energy systems in service and its April 2021 acquisition of rival installer SunStreet. However, Sunnova incurred a Q3 2021 net loss of US$25.9 million, compared to a net loss of US$73.3 million for the year-ago quarter.
As well as reaffirming its existing 2021 guidance, including forecasted customer additions of between 55,000 and 58,000, the company revealed it is guiding for 2022 customer additions of 83,000-87,000 and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$117 million-US$137 million.