New customer additions and capacity of solar PV and battery energy storage systems (BESS) have all fallen quarter-on-quarter in the latest financial results from US residential solar-plus-storage installer Sunrun.
All of these metrics have fallen consistently since a peak in the third quarter of 2025; the company added just 18,948 customers in the first quarter of 2026, down from 27,773 in the previous quarter and 32,833 in the third quarter of 2025. Similarly, Sunrun installed 1542.MW of new solar PV capacity in the most recent quarter, alongside 282.3MWh of batteries, both of which are the lowest quarterly additions reported for more than a year.
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The decline in customer and capacity additions is shown in the graph below. However, Sunrun has consistently posted growth in what it calls ‘storage attachment rate’, the percentage of residential solar projects that are co-located with a BESS. Sunrun has been operating under what it describes to be a “storage-first strategy” since last year, and the record 73% storage attachment rate reported in the first quarter of this year is a positive development for this approach.
“Many companies are struggling to navigate the changes reshaping our industry; these market dislocations occurring around us present opportunities that play directly into Sunrun’s strengths,” said Sunrun CEO Mary Powell. While Powell did not go into detail on these challenges, the US solar sector has endured significant disruption in recent years, primarily through president Trump’s slashing of Biden-era tax incentives for renewable energy projects.
Indeed, Sunrun has seen its proceeds from the transfer of Investment Tax Credits (ITCs), one of the core components of Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that has seen the imposition of strict time limits by Trump, almost halve in the last year. Between the first quarter of 2025 and 2026, the company’s proceeds from ITC transfers have fallen from US$624.8 million to US$340.1 million.
These challenging macroeconomic conditions and declining installation figures have combined to drive a quarter-on-quarter decline in many of Sunrun’s financial metrics. Total revenue fell from US$1.16 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025 to US$722.2 million in the first quarter of this year, while net losses increased from US$277.2 million to US$297.3 million over the same period.
However, Sunrun’s leadership remains bullish about the company’s prospects, with Powell saying that the company is “well positioned” to take advantage of demand for home battery products in the US.
“Cash generation came in below our expectation due to a shift of certain project finance transaction activity from Q1 into Q2,” added Sunrun CFO Danny Abajian. “Our full-year 2026 outlook for cash generation of US$250 million to US$450 million excluding our equipment safe harbour investments is unchanged.”
Sunrun was also one of four residential installers investigated by the Texas Attorney General last month over alleged “fraudulent and deceptive practices” in the residential solar space. Just four of the complaints, which numbered “over 100”, were levied at Sunrun, and the company told PV Tech that these instances are “rare events”, and that “all have been resolved”.
“We take issue with being lumped in with other companies that don’t operate with the same strict standards that put Texas consumers first,” Sunrun told PV Tech.
