Sungevity

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Sungevity is a solar electricity company that started in 2007 in Oakland, California. It designs home solar systems, offers financing, and takes care of installation, maintenance, and performance. The company worked in the United States and Europe, with projects in many U.S. states such as California, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, Delaware, and Washington D.C.

In 2012 Sungevity had more than 250 employees. In 2017 the company laid off most of its staff and was sold to Northern Pacific Group.

In 2020 Sungevity’s assets were bought by Pineapple Energy, which restarted Sungevity in California.

Over the years Sungevity pursued several growth moves and funding rounds. It raised money in 2009 ($6 million) and launched a Solar Lease program with US Bank in 2010. That year it also started a $15 million Series C. In 2011 Sungevity received funding from U.S. Bancorp, Rabobank, and Citigroup, and Lowe’s bought a stake in the company. In 2014 Sungevity raised about $70 million from investors including General Electric, Lowe’s, Jetstream Ventures, and E.ON. In 2015 it announced a $600 million private equity round with GE Ventures and Apollo. Sungevity also expanded internationally: it bought Dutch solar company Zonline in 2014 and launched Sungevity Netherlands, and in 2012 it formed Sungevity Australia with Nickel Energy to offer a pay‑as‑you‑go option called RoofJuice.

In 2017 the company faced bankruptcy concerns, and the remaining business was sold to Northern Pacific Group for about $50 million. That group created Solar Spectrum and took over Sungevity’s infrastructure, installers, warranties, and certain agreements. The European business was later acquired by Engie and continued as Sungevity International.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, leading to large layoffs. Later in 2020 Sungevity’s brands and assets were revived by Pineapple Energy. In 2021 Pineapple Energy continued Sungevity’s work in residential solar, battery storage, and grid services, and announced plans to merge with Communications Systems Inc., an IoT company.