A teetering U.S. residential solar industry may now be on the brink of collapse. Faced by macroeconomic challenges and shifting sands of state and federal policies, an industry once defined by double-digit growth in installations is experiencing steep declines – and the latest draft of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act makes things far worse.
The latest draft of the bill is bad all-around for clean energy, but it is particularly damaging to residential solar, cutting federal tax credits far sooner than expected.
Residential solar installations declined 31% in 2024. Over the last year, industry titans like SunPower, Sunnova, and Mosaic Solar have filed for bankruptcy.
The industry historically has leaned on the value proposition of lowering customer electricity bills and providing predictable costs for the long-term. However, that value has been increasingly difficult to provide.
Yeah I got an email from our solar panel company that they’re filing for bankruptcy. I just hope whoever picks them up doesn’t jack up lease prices to make up for it.
Wait wait wait — lease?
Are you telling me the closest thing humanity has ever made to a true install-once-reap-indefinitely energy machine is a subscription where you are? Solar panel company?!
Solar has been a major, major life changer for me (I’m not in the US). Probably the most expensive thing that isn’t a car that my family has ever bought, but it’s turned my life completely around. I had never had 24 hour electricity at my own house before throwing a bunch of acid batteries and panels onto my roof and it feels like a decadent luxury. Plus I can tell the electricity mob to go get fucked, at least between February and November. Worth every excruciating penny.
I know it might be expensive and maybe not easy to get the best deal but I’d think owning your own solar is more important than owning your own home. Although now that I say it this way, I’m thinking maybe you’re renting and that’s why you need to rent the panels too. Different places are different etc.
My favorite solar scam is the Power Purchase Agreement:
What if solar gets 20x better? Fusion gets solved? Too bad, contract pricing.
I think the idea is you eventually pay it off.
What timeline are you from