Sunrun Inc. is an American provider of

photovoltaic system A photovoltaic system, also called a PV system or solar power system, is an electric power system designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaics. It consists of an arrangement of several components, including solar panels to abso ...

s and battery energy storage products, primarily for residential customers. The company was established in 2007 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. Since its inception, the company has focused primarily on a power purchase agreement (PPA) business model where Sunrun installs and maintains a solar system on a customer's home, then sells power to the customer at an agreed upon rate for a 20- or 25-year term. This business model allows property owners to install solar at no upfront cost, but without the benefits (such as

tax break Tax break also known as tax preferences, tax concession, and tax relief, are a method of reduction to the tax liability of taxpayers. Government usually applies them to stimulate the economy and increase the solvency of the population. By this f ...

s) or some risks that come with being the owner of the system. The company has a sizable network of partners, including

Costco Costco Wholesale Corporation is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box warehouse club retail stores. As of 2021, Costco is the third-largest retailer in the world, and as of August 2024, Cos ...

and

Lowe's Lowe's Companies, Inc. ( ) is an American retail company specializing in home improvement. Headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, the company operates a chain of retail stores in the United States. As of October 28, 2022, Lowe's and i ...

, who allow Sunrun to market to customers inside their stores. In 2023, the company installed solar systems capable of generating 990

megawatts The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named in honor o ...

of power, and in the history of the company, had installed a total of 5.7

gigawatts The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named in honor o ...

of power for nearly 800,000 customers.

History

Sunrun was co-founded in January 2007 by Lynn Jurich, Ed Fenster, and Nat Kreamer with a business model in which it offered customers either a lease or a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)

business model A business model describes how a Company, business organization creates, delivers, and captures value creation, value,''Business Model Generation'', Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Alan Smith, and 470 practitioners from 45 countries, self-pub ...

whereby homeowners paid for electricity usage but did not buy

solar panels A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...

outright, reducing the initial capital outlay required by the homeowner. Sunrun is responsible for installation, maintenance, monitoring and repairs. The company raised $12 million in

venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...

funding from a group of investors including

Foundation Capital Foundation Capital is a venture capital firm located in Silicon Valley. The firm was founded in 1995, and in 2012 managed more than $2.4 billion in investment capital. As of 2023, the firm has over $6 billion in assets under management. Histor ...

in June 2008. In 2009, Sunrun closed a Series B round of funding for $18 million led by

Accel Partners Accel, formerly known as Accel Partners, is a global venture capital firm. Accel works with startups in seed, early and growth-stage investments. The company has offices in Palo Alto, California and San Francisco, California, with additional ope ...

and joined by Foundation Capital. The company also received an additional commitment of $90 million in tax equity from U.S. Bancorp in 2009, following the $105 million in project financing from the bank in 2008. In June 2010, Sunrun struck a deal with PG&E for $100 million. Following the deal, the company announced $55 million in fresh capital from

Sequoia Capital Sequoia Capital Operations, LLC is an American venture capital firm headquartered in Menlo Park, California, specializing in seed stage, early stage, and growth stage investments in private companies across technology sectors. the firm had appro ...

. In May 2014, the company raised $150 million. In 2015 Sunrun went public on the

Nasdaq The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...

stock exchange at $14 per share, with an initial market capitalization of $1.36 billion and launched its BrightBox battery energy storage product in the state of Hawaii. The next year it started selling BrightBox in California. In January 2017, Sunrun announced a strategic partnership with

National Grid plc National Grid plc is a British multinational electricity and gas utility company headquartered in London, England. Its principal activities are in the United Kingdom, where it owns and operates electricity and natural gas transmission networks ...

. The ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' reported in May 2017 that the

Securities and Exchange Commission The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash of 1929. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...

(SEC) was investigating Sunrun and

SolarCity SolarCity Corporation was a publicly traded company headquartered in Fremont, California, that sold and installed solar energy generation systems as well as other related products and services to residential, commercial, and industrial custom ...

, with regard to whether they adequately disclosed canceled contracts, a metric that the paper said is used by investors to gauge how well such companies are performing. In 2017, cancellations of contracts with Sunrun reached 40%. In July 2020, Sunrun announced that it would acquire

Vivint Solar Vivint Solar was an American provider of Photovoltaic system, photovoltaic solar energy generation systems, primarily for residential customers. The company was established in 2011 as an offshoot of home automation and security company Vivint and ...

for $3.2 billion. By early October 2020, the acquisition was completed following the approval by regulators and stockholders of both companies, creating a valuation of approximately $22 billion. In February 2022, Ford announced a partnership making Sunrun the official installer of bidirectional charging stations for the F-150 Lightning, allowing customers to charge their trucks at home, but also use the vehicle battery for backup power during a grid outage.

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Companies, Renewable Energy Energy companies established in 2007 Renewable resource companies established in 2007 2007 establishments in California American companies established in 2007 Companies based in San Francisco Solar energy companies of the United States Companies listed on the Nasdaq 2015 initial public offerings