US residential solar installer Sunnova has laid off more than half of its workforce, while a subsidiary from Delaware filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Disclosed in an 8-K filing last week and published on 5 June 2025, with the US Securities and Exchange Commission notified of the change on 29 May 2025, the company’s Board of Directors approved a reduction in workforce effective 30 May, which will affect nearly 718 employees. According to the company, the layoffs have been done “in order to reduce the company’s operating expenses and in an effort to preserve value for stakeholders.”
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Among the employees whose contracts have been terminated was former interim chief financial officer (CFO) Robyn Liska, with the company stating that it entered into an executive severance agreement with Liska. Liska was appointed as interim CFO two months ago, at the beginning of April.
This latest development comes only days after the US Department of Energy downsized a loan guarantee to Sunnova from an initial US$3 billion to US$371.6 million. According to the company, the amount equated to the total partial guarantees previously issued for Sunnova’s related securitisations.
Moreover, although the company improved its financial results in 2024, compared to the previous year, it registered losses of US$448 million in 2024. It has yet to release results for the first quarter of 2025. It recently received a notice from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) saying the company was not in compliance with “Section 802.01E of the NYSE Listed Company Manual” due to not filing the quarterly report for Q1 2025 on form 10-Q in due time.
Sunnova has six months, or until 19 November 2025, to file the 10-Q form for the first quarter of 2025. This is not the first time the residential solar installer has been notified of a non-compliance from the NYSE this year. In April, NYSE notified the company that it had six months to raise its stock price to a minimum of US$1.
Subsidiary files Chapter 11 bankruptcy
The 8-K filing also notified that one of its subsidiaries in Delaware, Sunnova TEP Developer, filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of title 11 in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas on 1 June 2025.
According to Sunnova, the subsidiary’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing is not expected to have “a material effect on our servicing operations for existing customers”.
Sunnova’s struggles come at a time when the US residential solar market is expected to face several blows, both at the federal level and in California. Last month, the US House Ways and Means Committee brought forward the end date for residential energy tax credits (Section 25D) to the end of 2025 in the Reconciliation Bill.
A bill that recently passed the vote in the House of Representatives and is now being discussed by the Senate. At the same time, in California, The California State Assembly’s Appropriations Committee moved forward with AB 942. A bill that seeks to have customers buying a property with an existing solar system switch their net energy metering (NEM) tariff to the current one, which would worsen residential solar owners’ rates when acquiring a property.
