Sunnova Energy Earnings 2019-12-31

Balance Sheet	Income Statement	Cash Flow
Assets, Equity	Rev, G Profit, Net Income	Ops, Inv, Fin

2019 Form 10-K Document

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

_______________________________________________________________________________

FORM 10-K

_______________________________________________________________________________

(Mark One)



☒	ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019



☐	TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from _________ to _________

Commission File Number: 001-38995

_______________________________________________________________________________

Sunnova Energy International Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

_______________________________________________________________________________



Delaware				30-1192746
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)				(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number)

20 East Greenway Plaza, Suite 475

Houston, Texas 77046

(Address, including zip code, of principal executive offices)

(281) 985-9904

(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)

_______________________________________________________________________________

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:



Title of Each Class	Trading Symbol(s)	Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered
Common Stock, $0.0001 par value per share	NOVA	New York Stock Exchange

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," "smaller reporting company," and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.



Large accelerated filer	☐	Accelerated filer	☐
Non-accelerated filer	☒	Smaller reporting company	☐
		Emerging growth company	☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

The aggregate market value of the common stock held by non-affiliates of the Registrant, based on the closing price of such shares of common stock of $11.20 as reported on the New York Stock Exchange on July 29, 2019, was approximately $339.8 million. The Registrant has elected to use July 29, 2019, which was the closing date of its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, as the calculation date because on June 30, 2019 (the last business day of the Registrant's most recently completed second fiscal quarter), the Registrant was a privately held company.

The registrant had 84,001,062 shares of common stock outstanding as of February 21, 2020.

Portions of the information called for by Part III of this Form 10-K are hereby incorporated by reference from either the definitive Proxy Statement for our annual meeting of stockholders or an amendment to this Form 10-K, either of which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission not later than 120 days after December 31, 2019.

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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"). Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or Sunnova's future financial or operating performance. Actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecast in such forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify these statements because they contain words such as "may," "will," "likely," "should," "expect," "anticipate," "could," "contemplate," "target," "future," "plan," "believe," "intend," "goal," "seek," "estimate," "project," "target," "predict," "potential," "continue" or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions that concern our expectations, strategy, plans or intentions. Forward-looking statements contained in this report include, but are not limited to, statements about:


•	federal, state and local statutes, regulations and policies;


•	determinations of the Internal Revenue Service of the fair market value of our solar energy systems;


•	the price of centralized utility-generated electricity and electricity from other sources and technologies;


•	technical and capacity limitations imposed by operators of the power grid;


•	the availability of tax rebates, credits and incentives, including changes to the rates of, or expiration of, federal tax credits and the availability of related safe harbors;


•	our need and ability to raise capital to finance the installation and acquisition of distributed residential solar energy systems, refinance existing debt or otherwise meet our liquidity needs;


•	our expectations concerning relationships with third parties, including the attraction, retention and continued existence of our dealers;


•	our ability to retain or upgrade current customers, further penetrate existing markets or expand into new markets;


•	our investment in our platform and new product offerings and the demand for and expected benefits of our platform and product offerings;


•	the ability of our solar energy systems, energy storage systems or other product offerings to operate or deliver energy for any reason, including if interconnection or transmission facilities on which we rely become unavailable;


•	our ability to maintain our brand and protect our intellectual property and customer data;


•	our ability to manage the cost of solar energy systems, energy storage systems and our service offerings;


•	the willingness of and ability of our dealers and suppliers to fulfill their respective warranty and other contractual obligations;


•	our expectations regarding litigation and administrative proceedings; and


•	our ability to renew or replace expiring, canceled or terminated solar service agreements at favorable rates or on a long-term basis.

Our actual results and timing of these events may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including but not limited to those discussed under "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment and new risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations, except as required by law.

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		Page
PART I
Item 1.	Business	4
Item 1A.	Risk Factors	17
Item 1B.	Unresolved Staff Comments	53
Item 2.	Properties	53
Item 3.	Legal Proceedings	53
Item 4.	Mine Safety Disclosures	53

PART II
Item 5.	Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities	54
Item 6.	Selected Financial Data	55
Item 7.	Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations	56
Item 7A.	Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk	83
Item 8.	Financial Statements and Supplementary Data	84
Item 9.	Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure	138
Item 9A.	Controls and Procedures	138
Item 9B.	Other Information	138

PART III
Item 10.	Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance	139
Item 11.	Executive Compensation	139
Item 12.	Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters	139
Item 13.	Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence	139
Item 14.	Principal Accounting Fees and Services	139

PART IV
Item 15.	Exhibits	140
	Signatures	144

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PART I

Item 1. Business.

Mission

Our mission is to power energy independence.

Overview

We are a leading residential solar and energy storage service provider, serving more than 80,000 customers in more than 20 United States ("U.S.") states and territories. Our goal is to be the leading provider of clean, affordable and reliable energy for consumers, and we operate with a simple mission: to power energy independence. We were founded to deliver customers a better energy service at a better price; and, through our solar and solar plus energy storage service offerings, we are disrupting the traditional energy landscape and the way the 21st century customer generates and consumes electricity.

We have a differentiated residential solar dealer model in which we partner with local dealers who originate, design and install our customers' solar energy systems and energy storage systems on our behalf. Our focus on our dealer model enables us to leverage our dealers' specialized knowledge, connections and experience in local markets to drive customer origination while providing our dealers with access to high quality products at competitive prices and technical oversight and expertise. We believe this structure provides operational flexibility, reduced exposure to labor shortages and lower fixed costs relative to our peers, furthering our competitive advantage.

We offer customers products to power their homes with affordable solar energy. We are able to offer savings and storage opportunities to most customers compared to utility-based retail rates with little to no up-front expense to the customer, and we are able to provide energy resiliency and reliability to our solar plus energy storage customers. Our solar service agreements take the form of a lease, power purchase agreement ("PPA") or loan. The initial term of our solar service agreements is typically either 10 or 25 years. Service is an integral part of our agreements and includes operations and maintenance, monitoring, repairs and replacements, equipment upgrades, on-site power optimization for the customer (for both supply and demand), the ability to efficiently switch power sources among the solar panel, grid and energy storage system, as appropriate, and diagnostics. During the life of the contract we have the opportunity to integrate related and evolving home servicing and monitoring technologies to upgrade the flexibility and reduce the cost of our customers' energy supply.

In the case of leases and PPAs, we also currently receive tax benefits and other incentives from federal, state and local governments, a portion of which we finance through tax equity, non-recourse debt structures and hedging arrangements in order to fund our upfront costs, overhead and growth investments. We have an established track record of attracting capital from diverse sources. From our inception through December 31, 2019, we have raised more than $4.7 billion in total capital commitments from equity, debt and tax equity investors.

In addition to providing ongoing service as a standard component of our solar service agreements, we also offer ongoing energy services to customers who purchased their solar energy system through unaffiliated third parties. Under these arrangements, we agree to provide such monitoring, maintenance and repair services to these customers for the life of the service contract they sign with us. We believe the quality and scope of our comprehensive energy service offerings, whether to customers that obtained their solar energy system through us or through another party, is a key differentiator between us and our competitors.

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We commenced operations in January 2013 and began providing solar energy services under our first solar energy system in April 2013. Since then, our brand, innovation and focused execution have driven significant growth in our market share and in the number of customers on our platform. We operate one of the largest fleets of residential solar energy systems in the U.S., comprising more than 572 megawatts of generation capacity and serving more than 80,000 customers. We define number of customers to include each customer that is party to an in-service solar service agreement. For further discussion of how we define number of customers, see "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Key Financial and Operational Metrics". The following chart illustrates the growth in our number of customers from December 31, 2015 through December 31, 2019.

Our Dealer Network Model

While many of our competitors maintain a large, geographically diverse base of employees in local markets, including a direct sales force comprised of home improvement installers, we limit the cost associated with that structure by utilizing a network of local, independent dealers to market, sell and install solar energy systems and energy storage systems on our behalf. Our dealers typically reside and work within the markets they serve and provide a localized, customer-focused marketing, installation and servicing process. These dealers are often leading local solar installation companies who serve customers that are actively searching for solar power or who were referred by existing customers. When entering new markets, our dealer model immediately provides scale by enabling us to develop relationships with existing local businesses and avoiding the delay and expense required to establish new sales and installation offices. Similarly, because we do not typically maintain local offices, we can quickly refocus our origination efforts and capital deployment strategy to different markets in response to changing dynamics and regulatory developments. Furthermore, because of the low marginal cost to maintain relationships with individual dealers in currently unfavorable markets, we can maintain a strategic presence in anticipation of future developments that may make the economics of distributed residential solar energy in those markets more attractive.

Our dealers realize value in partnering with us for a variety of reasons. Although each of our dealer relationships is unique, we believe our dealers choose to work with us because:


•	we do not compete with our dealers;


•	we receive preferred equipment pricing as a result of our strong supplier relationships;


•	we offer a wide variety of product structures;


•	we provide easy-to-use software to dealers to assist with the installation process and to price potential solar energy systems and energy storage systems;


•	dealers can leverage our brand to support their businesses;


•	we provide comprehensive training to dealers; and


•	we are a stable counterparty our dealers can trust to make payments on time.

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Origination, Installation, Monitoring and Servicing Processes

Through our dealer network model, we provide a streamlined approach for the origination of solar service agreements and the installation of solar energy systems and energy storage systems. The principal elements of our origination, installation, monitoring and servicing processes are described below:

•

Customer Origination and Consultation. Our dealers serve as a local, direct-to-home sales force providing in-person consultations to source potential customers in each geographic market where we operate. Our dealers reach potential customers through various means, including online, telemarketing, in-store sales, cross-marketing with complementary products and door-to-door canvasing. Using our technology platform and proprietary pricing tool, the dealer and the customer select one of our standard-form solar service agreements for the relevant market and the dealer submits its proposal to us for approval. Before proceeding to the design phase, we call every customer to validate the customer understands the terms of their contract with us as well as the expected benefits of the system.

•

Design and Engineering. Prior to the dealer's purchase and installation of the equipment, we and the dealers work together to design each solar energy system and, if applicable, energy storage system. All of our solar energy systems and energy storage systems are designed with equipment from a pre-approved list of manufacturers. We utilize our extensive tools and services platform, standardized procedures and existing databases to help our dealers comply with our pricing requirements, residential solar best practices, contract terms, and state, territorial and local regulations. For each solar service agreement, an individualized power production estimate is created by analyzing geographic, solar and weather data with the design's proposed orientation, components and shading. We continue to pursue technological innovation to streamline our review of design and engineering, to expedite installation and to lower costs for our dealers.

•

Installation, Commissioning and Interconnection. The installation and commissioning phase requires the dealer to obtain all necessary permits for installation and complete our commissioning process for the solar energy system and energy storage system (if applicable), which entails submitting supporting documentation and photographs illustrating the installation of the solar energy system and energy storage system (if applicable) to our engineering team for review. Following completion of these steps and our approval of these materials the dealer submits required paperwork to the applicable electric distribution utility to obtain permission to operate the equipment, schedule required regulatory inspections and arrange for interconnection of the solar energy system to the electrical grid. The customer's billing begins at the earlier of (a) 90 days after installation or (b) completion of interconnection.

•

Monitoring and Servicing. Our monitoring systems utilize cellular connections that allow us to confirm the continuing operation of the solar energy system and energy storage system (if applicable) and identify and solve maintenance issues through our dealers, third-party service providers or our own personnel. We also collect performance data to improve our pricing, generation estimates and services for our customers.

Our Relationships With Our Dealers

We carefully recruit our dealers, who must meet and maintain our standards to be an approved dealer. Qualifications to be a dealer include: experience in the residential solar industry (or success in complementary industries such as home security, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning, electrical services, and satellite television), experienced and appropriately certified employees (including multiple installation teams) and possession of applicable licenses. We also perform a review of the prospective dealer's financial condition as part of our recruitment process as well as a background check on the principal owners of the organization. Upon engagement, the dealer enters into a standard dealer agreement with us, which may be amended from time to time, that sets ongoing standards for operations and payment obligations based on different milestones for each project. We provide training, field support and continuing education to help our dealers operate efficiently. This includes training related to our processes, standards and services platform, sales training and compliance education regarding applicable rules and regulations. We actively review our dealers' performance and compliance with our requirements to determine whether to terminate our relationship with any dealer that is unable to meet our performance standards.

We devote significant resources to maintaining and expanding our relationships with existing dealers. Although most of our dealer agreements allow the dealer to sell services and products from our competitors, we believe dealers find our proprietary technology and operations platform, established supply chain group, commitment to training, quality of service and prompt payment to be an incentive to prioritize selling our services. Furthermore, many of our dealers may be hesitant to work with our competitors that have developed internal sales and installation personnel that may compete with certain aspects of the dealers' business. Taken as a whole, we believe these considerations promote long-lasting relationships with our dealers.

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For the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, Trinity Solar, Inc. ("Trinity") accounted for approximately 41% and 52% of our originations for such periods, respectively. In March 2019, we amended our agreement with Trinity pursuant to which Trinity has agreed to perform services or work exclusively for us for four years, with certain exceptions, including (a) the sale of solar energy systems to individuals on a "cash" basis that do not involve any third-party financing, (b) the sale of solar energy systems pursuant to customer agreements we do not elect to accept under the terms of the arrangement and (c) the sale of solar energy systems pursuant to customer agreements executed prior to the date of the amendment to the dealer agreement. In addition, Trinity may market, sell and install solar energy systems for our competitors in instances in which such competitor has provided the leads for such solar energy system customer directly to Trinity. Under this arrangement, we have agreed to provide annual bonuses to Trinity in the amount of $20 million in year one and $10 million each year thereafter, subject to clawback if minimum annual origination targets are not reached and additional per watt incentive payments if higher annual origination targets are exceeded. The minimum and higher origination targets increase by approximately 15% to 20% each year and limits competing work by Trinity to 10% of Trinity's annual gross revenues. Unlike most of our dealer agreements, the arrangement with Trinity does not permit the parties to terminate for convenience and only permits termination in specified circumstances including material breach (subject to applicable cure periods), prolonged force majeure events, a change of control, certain insolvency events or mutual agreement. For purposes of the Trinity agreement, "change of control" means (a) the sale of all or substantially all of the assets of a party or (b) any merger, acquisition, or other transaction or series of transactions that results in a change of ownership of more than fifty percent of the voting securities of a party (other than in connection with an initial public offering of either party or a transfer among Trinity's existing owners). Additionally, the arrangement provides for a $10 million liquidated damages payment by the applicable party in the event of termination for material breach, certain insolvency events of or wrongful termination by the other party.

We have similar contractual arrangements with several other key dealers. For certain other dealers, substantially all of the solar service agreements originated by such dealers are Sunnova agreements, although they are under no exclusivity arrangement. No dealer other than Trinity and Infinity Energy, Inc. accounted for more than 10% of our total expenditures to dealers relating to costs incurred for solar energy systems for the year ended December 31, 2019. Only Trinity accounted for more than 10% of our total expenditures to dealers relating to costs incurred for solar energy systems for the year ended December 31, 2018.

Platform of Tools and Services

We have developed a cloud-based technology platform for origination, installation, administration and servicing of our solar energy systems and energy storage systems. All of our dealers are trained in and use this platform. Our software platform includes a proprietary technology suite, including a contact center to assist dealers in lead generation, project tracking and service obligations, a quoting tool to standardize customer quotes and solar service agreements, and other services to manage payments, billing and monitoring. The technology suite also includes tools to streamline the approval process for the design and installation of solar energy systems and energy storage systems and establish a standard process for ongoing service and warranty management. The platform leverages cloud-based infrastructure and software capabilities using multiple third-party providers, including Salesforce, Amazon Web Services, Heroku and FinancialForce. It is compatible with multiple end-user device types, including smartphone, tablet and desktop/laptop interfaces.

We have invested in proprietary software systems and technology that have been designed to tie into third-party platforms and applications of our dealers and other systems. Our key software systems include:

•

Pricing Tool: Customer pricing and quoting is delivered by a combination of cloud-based technologies including Genability, PV Watts (a service of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory) and proprietary applications running on Amazon Web Services and Heroku. This collection of tools is made available to us and our dealers through a web, tablet or mobile device interface. We permit dealers to generate solar service agreement quotes and proposal documents on demand for presentation to prospective customers. Each completed quote is transferred into Salesforce for solar service agreement generation, customer access and reporting.


•	MySunnova: MySunnova is our online portal for customers that allows them to view their solar energy systems' production history, view energy storage system data, pay their bills, manage their online account and contact information, make referrals and contact our customer service team.

•

Salesforce: Salesforce is our central repository and system of record for all contracts, process documentation, customer account information, maintenance information and payment tracking for the life of the solar service agreement. This single system allows for integrated and comprehensive reporting for the entire life cycle of the customer, from quote to end of the solar service agreement term. Many of our other systems interact with the Salesforce platform.

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•	FinancialForce: FinancialForce is a cloud-based accounting system built on the Salesforce platform. Because it shares similar architecture to our Salesforce system, FinancialForce allows for integration between our operations and accounting.

Customer Agreements



Agreement	Sunnova Offering(s)	Description	Initial Term
Lease	Easy Save	Lease of solar energy system	25 years
PPA	Easy Save Simple	Sale of solar energy production
PPA	Easy Save Monthly	Sale of solar energy production
Loan	Easy Own	Sale of solar energy system	10 or 25 years
Energy Storage	Sunnova SunSafe	Lease or sale of energy storage system to be used with a solar energy system	10, 15 or 25 years
Energy Storage	Sunnova +SunSafe		10, 15 or 25 years
Service Only	Sunnova Protect Services	Monitoring & warranty services for non-Sunnova solar energy systems	1, 5, 10 or 20 years

We focus on growing a geographically diverse customer base with a strong credit profile. We perceive our recurring customer payments as high-quality assets given the broad and relatively inelastic demand for electricity and because our customers typically have high credit scores. As of December 31, 2019, our customers had, at the time of signing the solar service agreement, an average FICO^® score of 739. The purpose of our stringent credit approval policy is to ensure reliability of collecting payment over the duration of the solar service agreements. As of December 31, 2019, approximately 0.8% of our customers were in default (over 120 days past due) under their solar service agreements.

Most of our solar service agreements have an initial term of 25 years with an opportunity for customers to renew for up to an additional 10 years via two five-year renewal periods. The customer is obligated to make payments to us on a monthly basis and we operate and maintain the solar energy system and energy storage system, if applicable, in good condition throughout the duration of the agreement. Under our lease agreements and PPAs, the customer's monthly payment or price per kilowatt hour ("kWh") is set based on a calculation that takes into account expected solar energy generation. The customer has an option of choosing a flat rate without an escalator or a lower initial rate with an escalator. As of December 31, 2019, approximately 68% of our lease agreements and PPAs contained a price escalator, ranging from 0.9% to 3.0% annually.

Our solar service agreements are designed to offer the customer energy cost savings and bill stability relative to centralized utility prices, often resulting in an immediate reduction in the customer's overall utility bill, with little or no upfront costs. We provide our services through long-term residential solar service agreements in the following formats:

•

Lease Agreements. Under a lease agreement, or Easy Save Agreement, the customer leases a solar energy system from us at a fixed monthly rate that is typically subject to annual escalation. We own, operate and maintain the solar energy system under our lease agreements. In most cases, lease agreements include a performance guarantee under which we will refund payments or credit the customer if the solar energy system fails to meet a guaranteed minimum level of power production for specified time periods.


•	PPAs. We offer PPAs through our Easy Save Monthly Agreement, for monthly generation billing, and the Easy Save Simple Agreement, for a levelized monthly payment. We own, operate and maintain the solar energy system under our PPAs.


•	Easy Save Monthly Agreements. Pursuant to an Easy Save Monthly Agreement, the customer agrees to pay for all power generated by a solar energy system at a price per kWh that is typically lower than the local utility rate. The monthly rate is typically subject to annual escalation.

•

Easy Save Simple Agreements. The Easy Save Simple Agreement is similar to the Easy Save Monthly Agreement except the customer's payments are levelized over the course of a year based on an annual production estimate so the customer's payments are insulated from monthly fluctuations in electricity production subject to a true-up at the end of such period. The fixed monthly rate is typically subject to annual escalation. Should the annual

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production estimate exceed actual production, the customer will receive a bill credit at the end of the applicable period and we may decrease the estimated production (and corresponding monthly payments) for the subsequent year. Should actual production exceed the annual estimate, we may apply the overproduction to a subsequent year or increase the estimated annual production and corresponding monthly payments for the subsequent year. The estimated annual production will not increase more than 110% from the estimated annual production for the first year.

•

Loan Agreements. Pursuant to an Easy Own Agreement, the customer purchases the solar energy system from a dealer using financing provided by us. The customer repays the amount financed plus a finance charge through monthly payments for a typical term of 10 or 25 years. We purchase the Easy Own Agreement from the dealer and agree to operate and maintain the solar energy system. We operate and maintain the solar energy system through our network of dealers. In most cases, Easy Own Agreements include a production guarantee under which we will refund payments or credit the customer if the solar energy system fails to meet a guaranteed minimum level of power production for specified time periods. Customers under our Easy Own Agreements have the option to prepay outstanding principal amounts, in part or in full, without penalty.

•

Energy Storage Systems. Our Sunnova SunSafe program offers customers the option of a solar energy system integrated with a solar storage system. Our Sunnova SunSafe Easy Save Agreement and Sunnova SunSafe Easy Own Agreement are similar to our Easy Save Agreement and Easy Own Agreement, respectively, but include energy storage systems with the solar energy systems. The customer may select a term of 10 or 25 years for the SunSafe Easy Own Agreement. These agreements have a production guarantee, similar to the Easy Own Agreements and Easy Save Agreements, except in Guam, Saipan, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Florida. Additionally, we introduced the Sunnova +SunSafe Agreement to existing customers in several states and territories, under which the customer purchases the energy storage system from a dealer using financing provided by us. Under the Sunnova +SunSafe Agreement, the customer repays the amount financed plus a finance charge through monthly payments for a term of 10 or 15 years. We intend to roll-out these energy storage system offerings to additional geographic regions in the coming years.

•

Sunnova Protect Service. For solar energy systems not owned or sold by us, our Sunnova Protect Agreements provide customers maintenance and repairs as well as system monitoring and diagnostics. We provide three levels of service: (a) Basic, which is monitoring only; (b) Premium, which is monitoring plus repair and/or replacement of all equipment under a manufacturer's warranty; and (c) Platinum, which is monitoring, repair and/or replacement of all equipment under and outside the manufacturer's warranty and a production guarantee. The customer may select the level of service and a term of 1, 5, 10 or 20 years. Prior to commencing coverage, we will run a diagnostic evaluation on the customer's solar energy system and will identify any underperforming equipment and estimate production. The customer may elect to repair underperforming equipment, on a time and materials basis, so that it may be included in the coverage going forward. Should the underperforming equipment not be repaired, it will not be covered under the Sunnova Protect Agreement.

As of December 31, 2019, approximately 32% of our customers had lease agreements, approximately 54% had PPAs, and approximately 14% had loan agreements. Less than 1% of our customers have our Sunnova SunSafe and Sunnova Protect agreements.

We have developed a standardized protocol and set of policies to qualify potential customers. During the solar energy system origination phase, we review the customer's credit application for compliance with our credit standards. Solar service agreements that are accepted must comply with our underwriting standards, which emphasize the prospective customer's ability to pay and the value of the customer's estimated savings under the solar energy service agreement compared to traditional utility rates.

We maintain reporting and controls in place to monitor the timeliness of customer payments. As of December 31, 2019, approximately 94% of all payments received pursuant to our solar service agreements are collected via Automated Clearing House payments (i.e., the funds are deducted automatically on a monthly basis from the customer's bank account), approximately 3% are collected via automatic recurring credit card payments and approximately 3% are collected through non-recurring means. If a customer becomes delinquent on one or more monthly installment payments, we typically begin a collection process with respect to the customer.

In the event that a customer elects to sell his or her home, the customer's solar service agreement may be transferred to the prospective purchaser through prescribed reassignment procedures, subject to certain conditions related to the prospective purchaser's creditworthiness. To initiate the reassignment process, the customer must notify us of the pending sale, after which we will provide a copy of the solar service agreement, including any amendments, to the prospective purchaser. The

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prospective purchaser will then be required to complete a customer profile and a credit application. Each prospective purchaser's FICO^® Score and Experian TEC Score (Telecommunications, Energy and Cable) will be evaluated on the same basis as a customer in a new origination and will be evaluated by our computer auto-decisioning system.

In the event that a prospective purchaser does not meet our credit criteria or elects not to be subject to such credit inquiry, the current customer will be required to prepay the solar service agreement in full or the prospective purchaser will be required to provide a security deposit in cash in accordance with such customer's solar service agreement or our transfer policy prior to the approval of the reassignment. Each such security deposit is held in a separate account until the earlier of (a) the time at which the prospective purchaser satisfies our established credit criteria or (b) upon 12 consecutive months of on-time payments following the date of reassignment.

On a case-by-case basis, we may remove a solar energy system and, if applicable, energy storage system from the property on which it is installed if, among other reasons, the solar service agreement is canceled or otherwise terminated, the customer or solar energy system and energy storage system is relocated, any of the component parts are damaged or the new homeowner rejects the reassignment of the solar service agreement upon home transfer, if applicable.

Monitoring and Maintenance Service and Warranties

Our residential solar service agreements typically are accompanied by a warranty and/or monitoring and service agreement. The warranty and monitoring services provided with each type of solar service agreement vary but can include operations and maintenance, equipment repairs, monitoring or site power controls and management for both supply and demand. Additionally, our Sunnova Protect program offers monitoring, service and production guarantees across three tiers of service for solar energy systems owned by the homeowner and installed by an unaffiliated third party.

Regardless of the type of our solar service agreement, we provide ongoing service during the entire term of the customer relationship, including monitoring, maintenance and warranty services of the solar energy system and energy storage system, if applicable. We have an operations and maintenance administration organization consisting of administration staff and a dedicated residential monitoring and production team that evaluates the solar energy systems' and energy storage systems' performance daily. When a performance or operation issue is detected via our monitoring system, we provide or arrange for troubleshooting or field services as necessary. We rely on our dealer network and our own personnel to complete the field services required to maintain the solar energy systems. After completion of the resolution steps, the maintenance administration organization verifies remotely the issue has been resolved and the system or energy service is performing as expected.

Additionally, customers under our solar service agreements receive a range of warranties on the related solar energy systems and energy storage systems, including warranties for module production and against defects in workmanship and against component or materials breakdown. We also provide the customers with a warranty on roof penetrations of up to 10 years in compliance with applicable state, territorial or local law. Through our agreements with our dealers, the dealer is obligated, at its sole cost and expense, to correct defects in its installation work for a period of 10 years and provide a roof warranty on roof penetrations of five years. Furthermore, we provide a pass-through of the solar photovoltaic panel manufacturers' warranty coverage to our customers, generally of 25 years, and of the inverter and energy storage system manufacturers' warranty coverage, typically of 10 to 25 years. We typically exercise our rights under the manufacturer's equipment warranties or dealer installation warranties before incurring direct charges or costs. Many service expenses are borne by our dealers and not us directly because of the workmanship warranty provided by the dealers to us. Additionally, many component costs are covered by manufacturer warranties.

Seasonality

The amount of electricity our solar energy systems produce is dependent in part on the amount of sunlight, or irradiation, where the assets are located. Because shorter daylight hours in winter months and poor weather conditions due to rain or snow results in less irradiation, the output of solar energy systems will vary depending on the season or the year. While we expect seasonal variability to occur, the geographic diversity in our assets helps to mitigate our aggregate seasonal variability.

Our Easy Save Monthly PPAs are subject to seasonality because we sell all the solar energy system's energy output to the customer at a fixed price per kWh. Our Easy Save Simple PPAs are not subject to seasonality (from a cash flow perspective or the customer's perspective) within a given year because the customer's payments are levelized on an annualized basis so we insulate the customer from monthly fluctuations in production. However, our Easy Save Simple PPAs are subject to seasonality from a revenue perspective because, similar to the Easy Save Monthly PPAs, we sell all the solar energy system's energy output to the customer. Our lease agreements are not subject to seasonality within a given year because we lease the solar energy system to the customer at a fixed monthly rate and the reference period for any production guarantee payments is a full year.

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Finally, our loan agreements are not subject to seasonality within a given year because the monthly installment payments for the financing of the customers' purchase of the solar energy system are fixed and the reference period for any production guarantee is a full year.

In addition, weather may impact our dealers' ability to install solar energy systems and energy storage systems. For example, the ability to install solar energy systems and energy storage systems during the winter months in the Northeastern U.S. is limited. This can impact the timing of when solar energy systems and energy storage systems can be installed and when we can acquire and begin to generate revenue from solar energy systems and energy storage systems.

Intellectual Property

We rely on intellectual property laws, primarily a combination of copyright and trade secret laws in the U.S., as well as license agreements and other contractual provisions, to protect our proprietary technology. We also rely on several registered and unregistered trademarks to protect our brand. In addition, we generally require our employees and independent contractors involved in the development of intellectual property on our behalf to enter into agreements to limit access to, and disclosure and use of, our confidential information and proprietary technology. We also continue to expand our technological capabilities through licensing technology and intellectual property from third parties.

Government Regulations

While we are not regulated as extensively as a public utility where our business is conducted in the U.S., we are subject to various national, state, territorial and other local regulatory regimes. For example, in California and New York, we are subject to regulations concerning marketing and contracting promulgated by state public utility commissions. In some states such as Arizona and Florida, we are limited to offering only a lease agreement or a loan agreement to homeowners and are prohibited from offering a PPA, which is deemed a retail sale of electricity in such states and can only be made by a regulated utility. In Puerto Rico, we are subject to regulation as an electric power company by the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau and are required to comply with certain filing, certification, reporting and annual fee requirements. Regulation by the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau as an electric power company does not currently subject us to centralized utility-like regulation or require the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau's approval of charges to customers.

To operate the solar energy systems and energy storage systems, our dealers work with customers to obtain interconnection permission from the applicable local electric distribution utility. In many states and territories, by statute, regulations or administrative order, there are standardized procedures for interconnecting distributed residential solar energy and related energy storage systems to the electric utility's local distribution system. In some states, such as New Jersey and Massachusetts, certain utilities such as municipal utilities or electric cooperatives are exempt from some interconnection requirements. Provided that the system and energy, if applicable, qualify for the standardized procedures based upon size, use of industry-standard components, location on a suitable local network and other applicable requirements, utilities in some states or territories are required to interconnect qualifying solar energy systems and energy storage systems on an expedited basis relative to non-qualifying systems. Expedited procedures, when available, streamline the installation and interconnection process for solar energy systems and energy storage systems to begin operating. In the U.S. states and territories in which we operate, our dealers typically obtain interconnection permission on behalf of us and our customers using standardized interconnection procedures.

In certain states, such as California, independent solar energy producers who enter into solar service agreements with homeowners for residential solar energy systems are required to make certain disclosures to the homeowner regarding the solar energy system and the terms of the agreement and record a notice against the title to the real property on which the electricity is generated and against the title to any adjacent real property on which the electricity will be used. The notice does not constitute a title defect, lien or encumbrance against the real property.

In June 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") issued the final Affordable Clean Energy ("ACE") rule replacing the previous Clean Power Plan, which established standards to limit carbon dioxide emissions from existing power generation facilities and was expected to increase the cost of certain forms of fossil fuel-derived energy. We estimate the power generated by our solar energy systems has displaced more than 1.2 million metric tons of carbon emissions based on approximately 1.7 billion kWh of electricity produced since our inception and applying the EPA's online greenhouse gas equivalencies calculator (https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator). The ACE rule would establish emission guidelines for states to develop plans to limit greenhouse gas emissions from existing coal-fired power plants but does not have the expected increase in cost for fossil fuel-derived energy. We cannot predict what effects, if any, the ACE rule may have on photovoltaic solar markets.

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Our operations, as well as the operation of our dealers, are subject to stringent and complex federal, state, territorial and local laws, including regulations governing the occupational health and safety of employees, wage regulations and environmental protection. For example, we and our dealers are subject to the regulations of the U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration ("OSHA"), the U.S. Department of Transportation ("DOT"), the EPA and comparable state and territorial entities that protect and regulate employee health and safety and the environment. These include, for example, regulations regarding the disposal of solid and hazardous wastes from the solar energy systems we own. In addition, environmental laws can result in the imposition of liability in connection with end-of-life system disposal, such as in connection with disposal and recycling of batteries.

We and our dealers are also subject to laws and regulations relating to interactions with residential consumers, including those pertaining to sales and trade practices, privacy and data security, equal protection, consumer financial and credit transactions, consumer collections, mortgages and re-financings, home improvements, trade and professional licensing, warranties and various means of customer solicitation, as well as specific regulations pertaining to solar installations.

For a discussion of these and other regulatory requirements, see "Risk Factors—Risks Related to Regulations".

Government Incentives

U.S. federal, state, territorial and local governments have established various incentives and financial mechanisms to reduce the cost of solar energy and to accelerate the adoption of solar energy. These incentives come in various forms, including rebates, tax credits and other financial incentives such as payments for renewable energy credits associated with renewable energy generation, exclusion of solar energy systems and energy storage systems from property tax assessments, system performance payments, accelerated depreciation and net energy metering, or net metering, programs. These incentives make solar energy system and energy storage system ownership more attractive to some homeowners and enable us to charge our customers lower prices to purchase energy generated by our solar energy systems and energy storage systems or to lease or purchase our solar energy systems and energy storage systems than they would normally be expected to pay for utility-provided energy. These incentives also help catalyze private sector investments in solar energy and efficiency measures, including the installation and operation of residential and commercial solar energy systems and energy storage systems.

Net metering is one of several key policies that have enabled the growth of distributed solar in the U.S., providing significant value to certain customers with solar energy systems for the electricity generated by their systems but not directly consumed on site. Net metering allows a customer to pay the local electric utility only for power usage net of production from the customer's solar energy system. Customers receive a credit for the energy an interconnected solar energy system generates in excess of that needed by the home and that is provided to the electrical grid. The credit offsets energy usage incurred by the customer at times when the customer requires more electricity than is generated by the solar energy system. In many markets, this credit is equal to the residential retail rate for electricity and in other markets the rate is less than the retail rate and may be based, for example, in whole or in part on the centralized electric utility's "avoided cost" for electricity that it would have had to generate or purchase at wholesale to meet the customer's demand. Furthermore, when coupled with a time of use rate program in certain electric utility territories, a homeowner may offset usage billed at lower rates with net metering credits provided at a higher rate.

For these reasons, net metering credits incentivize consumers to use distributed solar in certain jurisdictions, including some of those in which we operate. In some electric utility territories, any excess credits are rolled over to the next billing period and may also be cashed out later at a rate lower than the retail rate. Most states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam have adopted some form of net metering by statute, regulation, administrative order or a combination thereof, although some of these jurisdictions provide for a credit at less than the retail rate. In some jurisdictions, centralized electric utilities have also adopted net metering on a voluntary basis. Some of the states in which we operate, including New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Delaware, Illinois and Hawaii, have in place policies that limit or permit utilities to limit the amount of total electricity generated through net metering and/or solar energy systems, and some of these states as well as other states or territories, including Pennsylvania, Nevada, New Mexico and Guam, have policies that limit or place conditions on the size of individual solar energy systems.

Net metering and other incentive programs are subject to legislative and regulatory review in many states and territories in which we operate and the availability and value of these programs could be limited, reduced or phased out. Some states such as Arizona, Nevada and Kentucky have reduced their net metering credits. Further reviews by these states and others are anticipated and the subsequent amount of net metering credits will continue to be assessed over the next few years in states that have net metering policies. For example, net metering rates in California, Connecticut, Puerto Rico and South Carolina are up for consideration over the next few years. New York is working on developing an alternative to net metering through a Value of Distributed Energy Resources credit that would allow certain customers to receive direct monetary compensation as opposed to

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a net metering credit. This program is expected to be implemented in 2021. Other states such as California have implemented non-bypassable fees for customers enrolled in a net metering program, which requires customers to pay certain fees regardless of whether they are drawing energy from the electrical grid. As a result of the Definitive Restructuring Support Agreement ("DRSA") between the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority ("PREPA") and its creditors submitted on May 3, 2019, which is currently pending before the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, net metering customers in Puerto Rico may be impacted by transition charges and other requirements.

Many states and territories have adopted renewable portfolio energy production requirements. The majority of states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have adopted a renewable portfolio standard ("RPS") that requires regulated electric utilities to generate or procure a specified percentage of total electricity delivered to customers in the state or territory from eligible renewable energy sources, such as solar energy systems, by a series of specified dates. In addition, several other states have set voluntary goals for renewable generation.

Roughly one-third of states with RPS policies require a minimum portion of the RPS be met by electric generation from solar energy systems, with substantial penalties for non-compliance. To demonstrate compliance with such RPS mandates, electric generation providers must submit state renewable energy certificates ("SRECs") to the applicable authority. One SREC is generated for a specified amount of energy generated for an eligible solar energy system. The specified amount of energy is dependent on system size and when the solar energy system receives a "permission to operate" order. Electric generation providers can either generate their own SRECs through solar energy systems they own or they can purchase SRECs owned by other parties.

SRECs are a distinct product, separate from the electricity generated by solar energy systems. We and our customers apply for and receive SRECs in certain jurisdictions for power generated by the solar energy systems we own. As a distinct product from the electricity generated by solar energy systems, SRECs represent a separate source of cash flow from the sale of electricity. SRECs can be sold with or without the actual electricity associated with the renewable-based generation. Solar energy system owners are typically able to sell SRECs to electric generation providers, such as electric utilities, or in the SREC commodity market. We have hedged a portion of our expected SREC production under fixed price forward contracts. The forward contracts require us to physically deliver the SRECs upon settlement.

Several states have an energy storage mandate or policies designed to encourage the adoption of storage. For example, California offers a cash rebate for storage installations through the Self Generation Incentive Program and Massachusetts and New York offer performance-based financial incentives for storage. Storage installations also are supported in certain states by state public utility commission policies that require utilities to consider alternatives such as storage before they can build new generation. In February 2018, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") issued Order 841 directing regional transmission operators and independent system operators to remove barriers to the participation of storage in wholesale electricity markets and to establish rules to help ensure storage resources are compensated for the services they provide.

Some state and territorial governments, centralized electric utilities, municipal utilities and co-operative utilities offer a cash rebate or other payment incentive for the installation and operation of a solar energy or energy storage system or to customers undertaking other energy efficiency measures. Capital cost or "up-front" rebates provide funds to solar customers or developers or solar energy system owners such as us based on the cost, size or expected production of a customer's solar energy system. Performance-based incentives and tariff-based incentives provide payments to solar customers or a solar energy system owner based on the energy generated by the solar energy system during a pre-determined period. These rebates and payment incentives, when available, improve the economics of distributed solar to both us and our customers.

The economics of purchasing a solar energy system and energy storage system are also improved by eligibility for accelerated depreciation, which allows for the depreciation of equipment according to an accelerated schedule set forth by the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS"). This accelerated schedule allows a taxpayer to recognize the depreciation of tangible solar property on a five-year basis even though the useful life of such property is greater than five years. The acceleration of depreciation creates a valuable tax benefit that increases the return on investment from a solar energy system and energy storage systems. We benefit from accelerated depreciation on the solar energy systems and energy storage systems we own, which account for substantially all of our solar energy systems and energy storage systems.

The federal government currently provides business investment tax credits under Section 48(a) (the "Section 48(a) ITC") and residential energy credits under Section 25D (the "Section 25D Credit") of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"). The Section 48(a) ITC allows taxpayers to claim a federal tax credit equal to 30% of qualified expenditures for certain commercially owned solar energy systems that began construction before 2020. The Section 48(a) ITC percentage decreases to 26% of the basis of a solar energy system that begins construction during 2020, 22% for 2021 and 10% if construction begins after 2021 or if the solar energy system is placed into service after 2023. In June 2018, the IRS provided

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guidance as to when construction is considered to begin for such purposes, including a safe harbor that may apply when a taxpayer pays or incurs (or in certain cases, a contractor of the taxpayer pays or incurs) 5% or more of the costs of a system before the end of the applicable year (the "5% ITC Safe Harbor"). We are also able to claim the Section 48(a) ITC for energy storage systems installed in conjunction with solar energy systems as long as they are only charged by on-site solar. A reduced Section 48(a) ITC may be available for energy storage systems charged in part from sources other than on-site solar as long as the solar energy systems are charged at least 75% by on-site solar.

The Section 25D Credit allows an individual to claim a federal tax credit equal to 26% of qualified expenditures with respect to a residential solar energy system that is owned by the homeowner. This 26% rate was reduced from 30% for solar energy systems placed in service prior to 2020 and is scheduled to be reduced to 22% for solar energy systems placed in service during 2021. The Section 25D Credit is scheduled to expire effective January 1, 2022. The Section 25D Credit reduces the cost of consumer ownership of solar energy systems, such as under loan agreements.

Certain states and territories in which we operate offer a personal and/or corporate investment or production tax credit for solar energy. Further, most of the states and local jurisdictions have established sales and/or property tax incentives for renewable energy systems that include exemptions, exclusions, abatements and credits. For a discussion of these and other governmental incentives, see "Risk Factors—Risks Related to Regulations".

Competition

We believe our primary competitors are centralized electric utilities that supply electricity to our potential customers. We compete with these centralized electric utilities primarily based on price (cents per kWh), predictability of future prices (by providing pre-determined annual price escalations), reliability and the ease by which customers can switch to electricity generated by solar energy systems. We believe we compete favorably with centralized electric utilities based on these factors in the states and territories where our solar service agreements are offered.

We also compete with retail electric providers and independent power producers that are not regulated like centralized electric utilities but have access to the centralized utilities' electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure pursuant to state, territorial and local pro-competitive and consumer choice policies. Furthermore, we compete with solar companies with vertically integrated business models, such as Vivint Solar, Inc. and Sunrun Inc. In addition, we compete with other solar companies who sell or finance products directly to consumers, inclusive of programs like Property-Assessed Clean Energy. For example, we face competition from solar installation businesses that seek financing from external parties or utilize competitive loan products or state and local programs. In the future, we may also compete with solar companies that have business models similar to our own, some of which are marketed to potential customers by our dealers. We compete with these companies based on the competitiveness of the products, the overall customer relationship and the commissions we are willing to pay dealers for the origination of new end customers.

Suppliers

The major components of the solar energy systems include solar photovoltaic panels that turn sunlight into direct current ("DC") electricity, inverters that convert solar-generated DC electricity into alternating current ("AC") electricity, the form of energy used by most standard household appliances, racking systems that attach the solar photovoltaic panels to the roof or ground, a remote monitoring system that measures and monitors all energy generated by the solar energy system and provides alerts about system performance and in some cases, an energy storage system (battery) that stores excess energy generated by the photovoltaic panels to supplement energy supply during hours when energy consumption exceeds energy produced by the photovoltaic panels. The solar energy system may also be connected to the electrical grid or other supplemental energy sources, such as fuel cells and generators, with additional wiring and electrical hardware.

We require our dealers to choose all major components of the solar energy system or energy storage system from a pre-approved list of manufacturers and models. By allowing dealers to choose from several manufacturers and models without direct supplier obligations, we have greater flexibility to satisfy customer demand, ensure competitive pricing and adequate supply of components and reduce the concentration of warranty risks. We have entered into master contractual arrangements with each vendor on our pre-approved list of vendors that defines the general terms and conditions of our purchases and those of our dealers, including warranties, product specifications, indemnities, delivery and certain other terms. Our dealers typically purchase solar panels and inverters on an as-needed basis from our pre-approved suppliers at then-prevailing prices pursuant to purchase orders having the benefit of our master contractual arrangements. At times, we will also procure equipment directly and sell it to our dealers. For 2020, we have purchased substantially all the inverters that will be deployed under our lease and PPA agreements that we expect will allow the related solar energy systems to qualify for the 30% Section 48(a) ITC by satisfying the 5% ITC Safe Harbor.

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We evaluate and qualify our manufacturers and their product offerings based on total cost of ownership, reliability, warranty coverage, credit quality and other factors. All equipment must be listed on the California Energy Commission's SB1 List of Eligible Equipment. All approved solar photovoltaic panels must have a minimum 25-year power warranty and 10-year workmanship warranty. We also require approved solar photovoltaic panels to undergo extended reliability testing as an indication of a 25-year or greater lifetime. Beginning in April 2016, we required all our manufacturers carry a 25-year warranty, or offer a warranty extension to 25 years, on all product offerings to be eligible for inclusion on our approved vendor list. Prior to April 2016, we sourced inverter manufacturers offering a warranty of no less than 10 years. All approved racking systems are required to be solar energy system Fire Class Rated "A" with a Type 1 module per recent California Fire requirements. Additionally, the racking system must have a Professional Engineers stamp as proof of structural analysis and wind speed certification and the racking system must be certified as conforming to the integrated grounding and bonding requirements of UL Subject 2703. All replacement parts and components must meet or exceed the same standards as those of the original installation.

In September 2018, the Office of the United States Trade Representative ("USTR") determined to modify its prior actions in its investigation into certain acts, policies and practices of the government of China related to technology transfer, intellectual property and innovation pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 by imposing an additional 10% duty on $200 billion worth of products from China, including inverters. In May 2019, the tariffs were increased from 10% to 25% and may be raised by the USTR in the future. If inverter production is not shifted to other countries before any tariff rate increase on these products, the price of inverters could increase. However, the cost of solar photovoltaic panels and inverters generally do not comprise a meaningful portion of our operating expenses. In addition, many of the solar photovoltaic panel and inverter manufacturers on our approved vendor list are from countries other than China, including Canada, the United States, Vietnam and Malaysia. See "Risk Factors—Increases in the cost of our solar energy systems due to tariffs imposed by the U.S. government could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations". These tariffs have not had a material impact on our business or our operations.

For the year ended December 31, 2019, Hanwha Q-Cells and Yingli Green Energy supplied approximately 50% and 17%, respectively, of our solar photovoltaic panels installed and no other supplier represented more than 10% of our solar photovoltaic panels installed. In 2018, Hanwha Q-Cells and Trina Solar Limited supplied approximately 52% and 22%, respectively, of our solar photovoltaic panels installed and no other supplier represented more than 10% of our solar photovoltaic panels installed. For the year ended December 31, 2019, Enphase Energy, Inc. and SolarEdge Technologies Inc. accounted for approximately 58% and 42%, respectively, of the inverters used in our solar energy system installations. In 2018, Enphase Energy, Inc. and SolarEdge Technologies Inc. accounted for approximately 55% and 43%, respectively, of the inverters used in our solar energy system installations. For the year ended December 31, 2019, Tesla, Inc. accounted for 100% of our energy storage systems purchases. In 2018, Tesla, Inc. and LG Chem Ltd. accounted for approximately 86% and 13%, respectively, of our energy storage system purchases. Our dealers generally source the additional equipment and parts needed for installation of the solar energy systems, such as fasteners, wiring and electrical fittings, through distributors or direct purchase procurement from manufacturers.

Employees and Contractors

As of December 31, 2019, we had 324 full-time employees and 328 total employees. We also engage independent contractors and consultants. We are not party to any collective bargaining agreements and have not experienced any strikes or work stoppages.

Insurance

We maintain the types and amounts of insurance coverage we believe are consistent with customary industry practices. Our insurance policies cover employee and contractor-related accidents and injuries, property damage, business interruption, storm damage, fixed assets, facilities, cyber, crime and liability deriving from our activities. Our insurance policies also cover directors', employee and fiduciary liability and officers' liability. We may also be covered for certain liabilities by insurance policies issued to third parties, including, but not limited to, our dealers and vendors.

Available Information

We file annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to reports filed or furnished pursuant to Sections 13(a) and 15(d) of the Exchange Act. The Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") maintains a website at www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information we file with the SEC electronically. Copies of our reports on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q, Form 8-K and amendments to those reports

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may also be obtained, free of charge, electronically on the investor relations page on our website located at investors.sunnova.com as soon as reasonably practical after we file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC.

We also use the investor relations page on our website as a channel of distribution for important company information. Important information, including press releases, analyst presentations and financial information regarding us, as well as corporate governance information, is routinely posted and accessible on the investor relations page on our website. Information on or that can be accessed through our website is not part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and the inclusion of our website address is an inactive textual reference only.

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Item 1A. Risk Factors.

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks described below together with all of the other information included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including the section titled "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and our consolidated financial statements and related notes, before deciding to invest in our common stock. We may experience additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us; or, as a result of developments occurring in the future, conditions that we currently deem to be immaterial may also materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations. If any of the risks actually occur, they may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations. In this event, the trading price of our common stock could decline and you could lose all or part of your investment in us.

Risks Related to Our Business

Historically, we have incurred operating and net losses and we may be unable to achieve or sustain profitability in the future.

We incurred operating losses of $22.3 million, $13.7 million and $10.4 million and net losses of $133.4 million, $68.4 million and $90.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. These historical operating and net losses were due to a number of factors, including increased expenses to fund our growth and related financing needs. We expect to incur significant expenses as we finance the expansion of our operations and implement additional internal systems and infrastructure to support our growth. In addition, as a public company, we incur significant additional legal, accounting and other expenses we did not incur as a private company. We do not know whether our revenue will grow rapidly enough to absorb these costs. Our ability to achieve profitability depends on a number of factors, including:


•	growing our customer base and originating new solar service agreements on economic terms;


•	maintaining or lowering our cost of capital;


•	reducing operating costs by optimizing our operations and maintenance processes;


•	maximizing the benefits of our dealer network;


•	finding additional tax equity investors and other sources of institutional capital; and


•	the continued availability of various governmental incentives for the solar industry.

Even if we do achieve profitability, we may be unable to sustain or increase our profitability in the future.

Certain of our key operational metrics, including estimated gross contracted customer value, are based on various assumptions and estimates we make over an extended period of time. Actual experience may vary materially from these estimates and assumptions and therefore undue reliance should not be placed on these metrics.

Our key operational metrics include a number of assumptions and estimates we make over an extended period of time (up to 35 years) and may not prove accurate. In calculating estimated gross contracted customer value, we estimate projected monthly customer payments over the remaining life of our solar service agreements, which are typically 25 years in length with an opportunity for customers to renew for up to an additional 10 years, and from the future sale of related SRECs. These estimated future cash flows depend on various factors including but not limited to solar service agreement type, contracted rates, customer loss rates, expected sun hours and the projected production capacity of the solar equipment installed. Additionally, in calculating estimated gross contracted customer value we also estimate cash distributions to tax equity fund investors and operating, maintenance and administrative expenses associated with the solar service agreements, including expenses related to accounting, reporting, audit, insurance, maintenance and repairs over the remaining life of our solar service agreements.

Furthermore, in calculating estimated gross contracted customer value, we discount our future net cash flows at 6% based on industry practice and the interest rate on certain recent securitizations. This discount rate might not be the most appropriate discount rate based on interest rates in effect from time to time and industry or company-specific risks associated with these cash flows and the appropriate discount rate for these estimates may change in the future due to the level of inflation, rising interest rates, our cost of capital, customer default rates and consumer demand for solar energy systems, among other things. We also assume customer losses of 0% in calculating these metrics even though we expect to have some minimal level of customer losses over the life of our contracts. To illustrate the way in which actual results may change, we present sensitivities around the discount rate and the rate of customer losses, although these sensitivities may not capture the most appropriate discount rate or the rate of customer losses we will experience. For a discussion of estimated gross contracted customer value

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and the related discount rate, see "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Key Financial and Operational Metrics—Estimated Gross Contracted Customer Value".

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP has not audited, reviewed, examined, compiled nor applied agreed-upon procedures with respect to these operational metrics or their components. The estimates discussed above are based on a combination of assumptions that may prove to be inaccurate over time. Such inaccuracies could be material, particularly given the estimates relate to cash flows up to 35 years in the future.

Our growth strategy depends on the continued origination of solar service agreements by us and our dealers.

Our growth strategy depends on the continued origination of solar service agreements by us and our dealers. We may be unable to originate additional solar service agreements and related solar energy systems and energy storage systems in the numbers or at the pace we currently expect for a variety of reasons, including, among other things, the following:


•	demand for solar energy systems and energy storage systems failing to develop sufficiently or taking longer than expected to develop;


•	residential solar energy technology being available at economically attractive prices as a result of factors outside of our control, including utility prices not rising as quickly as anticipated;


•	issues related to identifying, engaging, contracting, compensating and maintaining relationships with dealers and the negotiation of dealer agreements;


•	issues related to financing, construction, permitting, the environment, governmental approvals and the negotiation of solar service agreements;


•	a reduction in government incentives or adverse changes in policy and laws for the development or use of solar energy, including net metering, SRECs and tax credits;


•	other government or regulatory actions that could impact our business model;


•	negative developments in public perception of the solar energy industry; and


•	competition from other solar companies and energy technologies, including the emergence of alternative renewable energy technologies.

If the challenges of originating solar service agreements and related solar energy systems and energy storage systems increase, our pool of available opportunities may be limited, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

If sufficient additional demand for residential solar energy systems does not develop or takes longer to develop than we anticipate, our ability to originate solar service agreements may decrease.

The distributed residential solar energy market is at a relatively early stage of development in comparison to fossil fuel-based electricity generation. If additional demand for distributed residential solar energy systems fails to develop sufficiently or takes longer to develop than we anticipate, we may be unable to originate additional solar service agreements and related solar energy systems and energy storage systems to grow our business. In addition, demand for solar energy systems and energy storage systems in our targeted markets may not develop to the extent we anticipate. As a result, we may be unsuccessful in broadening our customer base through origination of solar service agreements and related solar energy systems and energy storage systems within our current markets or in new markets we may enter.

Many factors may affect the demand for solar energy systems, including the following:


•	availability, substance and magnitude of solar support programs including government targets, subsidies, incentives, renewable portfolio standards and residential net metering rules;


•	the relative pricing of other conventional and non-renewable energy sources, such as natural gas, coal, oil and other fossil fuels, wind, utility-scale solar, nuclear, geothermal and biomass;


•	performance, reliability and availability of energy generated by solar energy systems compared to conventional and other non-solar renewable energy sources;


•	availability and performance of energy storage technology, the ability to implement such technology for use in conjunction with solar energy systems and the cost competitiveness such technology provides to customers as compared to costs for those customers reliant on the conventional electrical grid; and


•	general economic conditions and the level of interest rates.

The residential solar energy industry is constantly evolving, which makes it difficult to evaluate our prospects. We cannot be certain if historical growth rates reflect future opportunities or whether growth anticipated by us will be realized. The failure

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of distributed residential solar energy to achieve, or its being significantly delayed in achieving, widespread adoption could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If we fail to manage our operations and growth effectively, we may be unable to execute our business plan, maintain high levels of customer service or adequately address competitive challenges.

We have experienced significant growth in recent periods measured by our number of customers and we intend to continue our efforts to expand our business within existing and new markets. This growth has placed, and any future growth may place, a strain on our management, operational and financial infrastructure. Our growth requires our management to devote a significant amount of time and effort to maintain and expand our relationships with customers, dealers and other third parties, attract new customers and dealers, arrange financing for our growth and manage our expansion into additional markets.

In addition, our current and planned operations, personnel, information technology and other systems and procedures might be inadequate to support our future growth and may require us to make additional unanticipated investments in our infrastructure. Our success and ability to further scale our business will depend, in part, on our ability to manage these changes in a cost-effective and efficient manner.

If we cannot manage our operations and growth, we may be unable to meet our expectations regarding growth, opportunity and financial targets, take advantage of market opportunities, execute our business strategies, meet our tax equity financing commitments or respond to competitive pressures. This could also result in declines in quality or customer satisfaction, increased costs, difficulties in introducing new offerings or other operational difficulties. Any failure to effectively manage our operations and growth could adversely impact our reputation, business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

A material reduction in the retail price of electricity charged by electric utilities or other retail electricity providers would harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Decreases in the retail price of electricity from electric utilities or from other retail electric providers, including other renewable energy sources such as larger-scale solar energy systems, could make our offerings less economically attractive. The price of electricity from utilities could decrease as a result of:


•	the construction of a significant number of new power generation plants, whether generated by natural gas, nuclear power, coal or renewable energy;


•	the construction of additional electric transmission and distribution lines;


•	a reduction in the price of natural gas or other natural resources as a result of increased supply due to new drilling techniques or other technological developments, a relaxation of associated regulatory standards or broader economic or policy developments;


•	less demand for electricity due to energy conservation technologies and public initiatives to reduce electricity consumption or to recessionary economic conditions; and


•	development of competing energy technologies that provide less expensive energy.

A reduction in electric utilities' rates or changes to peak hour pricing policies or rate design (such as the adoption of a fixed or flat rate) could also make our offerings less competitive with the price of electricity from the electrical grid. If the cost of energy available from electric utilities or other providers were to decrease relative to solar energy generated from residential solar energy systems or if similar events impacting the economics of our offerings were to occur, we may have difficulty attracting new customers or existing customers may default or seek to terminate, cancel or otherwise avoid the obligations under their solar service agreements. For example, large utilities in California have started transitioning customers to time-of-use rates and also have adopted a shift in the peak period for time-of-use rates to later in the day. Unless grandfathered under a different rate, residential customers with solar energy systems are required to take service under time-of-use rates with the later peak period. Moving utility customers to time-of-use rates or the shift in the timing of peak rates for utility-generated electricity to include times of day when solar energy generation is less efficient or non-operable could also make our offerings less competitive. Time-of-use rates could also result in higher costs for our customers whose electricity requirements are not fully met by our offerings during peak periods.

Additionally, the price of electricity from utilities may grow less quickly than the escalator feature in certain of our solar service agreements, which could also make our solar energy systems less competitive with the price of electricity from the electrical grid and result in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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Our growth is dependent on our dealer network and our failure to retain or replace existing dealers or to grow our dealer network could adversely impact our business. In addition, one of our dealers currently accounts for approximately half of our recently added customers.

Our dealer network is an integral component of our business strategy and serves as the means by which we are able to originate solar service agreements and related solar energy systems and energy storage systems in existing and prospective markets. Poor performance by our dealers in originating solar service agreements could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We have in the past had disputes and litigation with certain of our dealers over their performance.

As we grow, particularly in new jurisdictions, we will need to expand our dealer network. We are subject to significant competition for the recruitment and retention of dealers from our competitors and we may not be able to recruit new or replacement dealers in the future. We compete for our dealers with other solar service providers primarily based on the amount and timing of payments for originating solar service agreements, financial ability and our suite of technology tools.

Most of our dealers are not restricted in their ability to work with our competitors and are not obligated to continue working with us. In the past, some of our dealers have chosen to work with competitors of ours or terminated their relationships with us and dealers may reduce or terminate their work with us in the future. The departure of a significant number of our dealers for any reason, or the failure to replace departing dealers in the event of such departures, could reduce our potential origination opportunities and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. As we develop and expand our Sunnova Protect services, dealers may view us as a competitor and choose to end their relationship with us.

Additionally, dependence on any one dealer or small group of dealers further concentrates our exposure to risks related to termination of the dealer arrangement, poor service provided by such dealer, the deterioration in financial condition of the dealer and other risks inherent in such a relationship. For the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, Trinity accounted for approximately 41%, 52% and 29% of our originations for such periods, respectively. Although we have entered into a four‑year exclusivity agreement with Trinity, pursuant to which Trinity may only originate solar service agreements for us, there are various exceptions to this obligation. For a discussion of exclusivity arrangements with certain of our dealers, see "Business—Our Relationships with Our Dealers".

If we or our dealers fail to hire and retain a sufficient number of employees and service providers in key functions, our growth and our ability to timely complete customer projects and successfully manage customer accounts would be constrained.

To support our growth, we and our dealers need to hire, train, deploy, manage and retain a substantial number of skilled employees, engineers, installers, electricians and sales and project finance specialists. Competition for qualified personnel in our industry has increased substantially, particularly for skilled personnel involved in the installation of solar energy systems. We and our dealers also compete with the homebuilding and construction industries for skilled labor. These industries are cyclical and when participants in these industries seek to hire additional workers, it puts upward pressure on our and our dealers' labor costs. Companies with whom our dealers compete to hire installers may offer compensation or incentive plans that certain installers may view as more favorable. As a result, our dealers may be unable to attract or retain qualified and skilled installation personnel. The further unionization of our industry's labor force or the homebuilding and construction industries' labor forces could also increase our dealers' labor costs. Shortages of skilled labor could significantly delay a project or otherwise increase our dealers' costs. Further, we need to continue to increase the training of our customer service team to provide high-end account management and service to homeowners before, during and following the point of installation of our solar energy systems. Identifying and recruiting qualified personnel and training them requires significant time, expense and attention. It can take several months before a new customer service team member is fully trained and productive at the standards we have established. If we are unable to hire, develop and retain talented customer service or other personnel, we may not be able to grow our business.

We need to obtain substantial additional financing arrangements to provide working capital and growth capital and if financing is not available to us on acceptable terms when needed, our ability to continue to grow our business would be materially adversely impacted.

Distributed residential solar power is a capital-intensive business that relies heavily on the availability of debt and equity financing sources to fund solar energy system purchase, design, engineering and other capital expenditures. From our inception through December 31, 2019, we have raised more than $4.7 billion in total capital commitments from equity, debt and tax equity investors.

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Our future success depends on our ability to raise capital from third-party investors and commercial sources, such as banks and other lenders, on competitive terms to help finance the deployment of our solar energy systems. We seek to minimize our cost of capital in order to improve profitability and maintain the price competitiveness of the electricity produced by, the payments for and the cost of our solar energy systems. We rely on access to capital, including through tax equity financing and indebtedness in the form of debt facilities and asset-backed securities, to cover the costs related to bringing our solar energy systems and energy storage systems in service, although our customers ultimately bear responsibility for those costs pursuant to our solar service agreements.

To meet the capital needs of our growing business, we will need to obtain additional debt or equity financing from current and new investors. If any of our current debt or equity investors decide not to invest in us in the future for any reason, or decide to invest at levels inadequate to support our anticipated needs or materially change the terms under which they are willing to provide future financing, we will need to identify new investors and financial institutions to provide financing and negotiate new financing terms. In addition, our ability to obtain additional financing through the asset-backed securities market or other secured debt markets is subject to our having sufficient assets eligible for securitization as well as our ability to obtain appropriate credit ratings. If we are unable to raise additional capital in a timely manner, our ability to meet our capital needs and fund future growth may be limited.

Delays in obtaining financing could cause delays in expansion in existing markets or entering into new markets and hiring additional personnel. Any future delays in capital raising could similarly cause us to delay deployment of a substantial number of solar energy systems for which we have signed solar service agreements with customers. Our future ability to obtain additional financing depends on banks' and other financing sources' continued confidence in our business model and the renewable energy industry as a whole. It could also be impacted by the liquidity needs of such financing sources themselves. We face intense competition from a variety of other companies, technologies and financing structures for such limited investment capital. If we are unable to continue to offer a competitive investment profile, we may lose access to these funds or they may only be available to us on terms less favorable than those received by our competitors. For example, if we experience higher customer default rates than we currently experience, it could be more difficult or costly to attract future financing. Any inability to secure financing could lead us to cancel planned installations, impair our ability to accept new customers or increase our borrowing costs, any of which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our ability to provide our solar service offerings to homeowners on an economically viable basis depends in part on our ability to finance these solar energy systems with tax equity investors that depend on particular tax and other benefits.

Historically, there have been a limited number of investors that generate sufficient profits and possess the requisite financial sophistication to benefit from the tax benefits our tax equity vehicles provide, and a lack of depth in this market may limit our ability to complete such tax equity financing. Potential investors seeking tax-advantaged financing must remain satisfied the structures we offer qualify for the tax benefits associated with solar energy systems available to these investors, which depends both on the investors' assessment of tax law and the absence of any unfavorable interpretations of that law. Changes in existing law and interpretations by the IRS and the courts could reduce the willingness of tax equity investors to invest in tax equity vehicles associated with these solar energy system investments or cause these investors to require a larger allocation of customer payments. We are not certain this type of financing will continue to be available to us as the legal and regulatory landscape may shift in a manner that reduces or eliminates the attractiveness of such financing opportunities. For example, a step down of Section 48(a) ITCs is scheduled to occur from 2020 to 2023. Additionally, we may be unable to identify investors interested in engaging in this type of financing with us. As of December 31, 2019, we have raised six tax equity vehicles to which investors such as banks and other large financial investors have committed to invest approximately $374.5 million. The undrawn committed capital for these tax equity vehicles as of December 31, 2019 is approximately $50.7 million. We plan to continue to form new tax equity vehicles as long as existing tax law and regulations make such financing attractive. See "—Risks Related to Regulations—Our business currently depends in part on the availability of rebates, tax credits and other financial incentives. The expiration, elimination or reduction of these rebates, credits or incentives or our ability to monetize them could adversely impact our business".

The contractual terms in certain of our tax equity vehicle documents impose conditions on our ability to draw on financing commitments from the tax equity investors, including if an event occurs that could reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the tax equity vehicle or on us. The terms and conditions of our tax equity vehicles can vary and may require us to alter our products, services or product mix. If we do not satisfy such conditions due to events related to our business or a specific tax equity vehicle or developments in our industry or otherwise, and as a result we are unable to draw on existing commitments, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity. In addition to our inability to draw on the investors' commitments, we may incur financial penalties for non-performance,

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including delays in the installation process and interconnection to the power grid of solar energy systems and other factors. Based on the terms of the tax equity vehicle agreements, we will either reimburse a portion of the tax equity investor's capital or pay the tax equity investor a non-performance fee.

Under the terms of certain of our tax equity vehicles, we may be required to make payments to the tax equity investors if certain tax benefits allocated to such tax equity investors are not realized as expected. Our financial condition may be adversely impacted if a tax equity vehicle is required to make any tax-related payments.

Our tax equity vehicles require that, prior to a date which is at least five years after the last project was placed in service, the tax equity investor receives substantially all the non-cash value attributable to the solar energy systems; however, we receive a majority of the cash distributions. In the event the tax equity investor has tax liability as a result of its investment and the cash distributions payable to the tax equity investor are not sufficient to pay such tax liability, the amount of distributions payable to us will be reduced. The amounts of potential tax liability (and the potential for a reduced distribution to us) depend on the tax benefits that accrue to such investors from the tax equity vehicles' activities and may be impacted by changes in tax law.

Additionally, we may have payment obligations to our tax equity investors under indemnity obligations contained in those financings. See "—Risks Related to Taxation—If the IRS makes a determination that the fair market value of our solar energy systems is materially lower than what we have reported in our tax equity vehicles' tax returns, we may have to pay significant amounts to our tax equity vehicles, our tax equity investors and/or the U.S. government. Such determinations could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition" and "—Risks Related to Taxation—If our solar energy systems either cease to be qualifying property or undergo certain changes in ownership within five years of the applicable placed in service date, we may have to pay significant amounts to our tax equity vehicles, our tax equity investors and/or the U.S. government. Such recapture could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition".

Due to uncertainties associated with estimating the timing and amounts of cash distributions and allocations of tax benefits to such investors, we cannot determine the potential impact on our cash flows under current or future arrangements. Any significant reductions in the cash we expect to receive from these structures could adversely affect our financial condition.

We enter into securitization structures, warehouse financings and other debt financings that may limit our ability to access the cash of our subsidiaries and include acceleration events that, if triggered, could adversely impact our financial condition.

Since April 2017, we have pooled and transferred eligible solar energy systems and the related asset receivables into five special purpose entities, which sold solar asset-backed notes and solar loan-backed notes to institutional investors, the net proceeds of which were distributed to us. We intend to monetize additional solar energy systems in the future through contributions to new special purposes entities for cash. There is a risk the institutional investors that have purchased the notes issued by these special purpose entities will be unwilling to make further investments in our solar energy systems at attractive prices. Although the creditors of these special purpose entities have no recourse to our other assets except as expressly set forth in the terms of the notes, the special purpose entities are typically required to maintain a liquidity reserve account, a reserve account for inverter replacements as well as, in certain cases, reserve accounts to finance purchase option/withdrawal right exercises, storage system replacement or payment of liquidated damages for the benefit of the lenders under the applicable series of notes, each of which are funded from initial deposits or cash flows to the levels specified therein.

The securitization structures, warehouse financings and other debt financings often include certain other features designed to protect investors. The primary feature relates to the availability and adequacy of cash flows in the pool of assets to meet contractual requirements, the insufficiency of which triggers an early repayment of the indebtedness. We refer to this as "early amortization" which may be based on, among other things, a debt service coverage ratio falling or remaining below certain levels. In the event of an early amortization, the notes issuer would be required to repay the affected indebtedness using available collections received from the asset pool. An early amortization event would impair our liquidity and may require us to utilize other available contingent liquidity or rely on alternative funding sources, which may not be available at the time. Certain of the securitizations, warehouse financings and other debt financings also contain a "cash trap" feature, which requires excess cash flow to be held in an account based on, among other things, a debt service coverage ratio falling or remaining below certain levels. If the cash trap conditions are not cured within a specified period, then the cash in the cash trap account must be applied to repay the indebtedness. If the cash trap conditions are timely cured, the cash is either released back to the borrower or used to repay the indebtedness at the borrower's option. The indentures of our securitizations also typically contain customary events of default for solar securitizations that may entitle the noteholders to take various actions, including the acceleration of amounts due and foreclosure on the issuer's assets. Any significant payments we may be required to make as a

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result of these arrangements could adversely affect our financial condition. See "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Financing Arrangements".

Servicing our existing debt requires a significant amount of cash. We may not have sufficient cash flow from our business to timely pay our interest and principal obligations and may be forced to take other actions to satisfy our payment obligations.

As of December 31, 2019, our total indebtedness was approximately $1.4 billion and the available borrowing capacity under our credit facilities was approximately $88.3 million. Our ability to make scheduled payments of the principal of, to pay interest on or to refinance our indebtedness depends on our future performance, which is subject to economic, financial, competitive and other factors beyond our control. Our business may not generate cash flow from operations sufficient to service our debt and make necessary capital expenditures to operate our business. If we are unable to generate such cash flow, we may be required to adopt one or more alternatives, such as slowing or ceasing the origination of new solar service agreements, selling assets, restructuring debt or obtaining additional debt and equity capital on terms that may be onerous or highly dilutive. Our ability to timely repay or otherwise refinance our indebtedness will depend on the capital markets and our financial condition at such time. We may not be able to engage in any of these activities or engage in these activities on desirable terms, which could result in a default on our debt obligations.

Furthermore, we and our subsidiaries expect to incur additional debt in the future, subject to the restrictions contained in our debt instruments. Increases in our existing debt obligations would further heighten the debt related risk discussed above. In addition, we may not be able to enter into new debt instruments on acceptable terms or at all. If we were unable to satisfy financial covenants and other terms under existing or new instruments, or obtain waivers or forbearance from our lenders, or if we were unable to obtain refinancing or new financings for our working capital, equipment and other needs on acceptable terms if and when needed, our business would be adversely affected.

We are exposed to the credit risk of our customers.

Our customers purchase solar energy or lease solar energy systems from us pursuant to one of two types of long-term contracts: a PPA or a lease. The PPA and lease terms are typically for 25 years. In addition, under our loan agreements the customer finances the purchase of a solar energy system and we agree to operate and maintain the solar energy system throughout the 25-year term of the agreement. Our solar service agreements require the customer to make monthly payments to us throughout the term of the contract, unless prepaid. Because we have long-term, contractual relationships with our customers, we are subject to the credit risk of our customers and screen our customers based upon their credit rating in an attempt to mitigate the risk of customer default. As of December 31, 2019, the average FICO^® score of our customers was 739 at the time of signing the solar service agreement. The accuracy of independent third-party information provided to the credit reporting agency cannot be verified. A FICO^® score purports only to be a measurement of the relative degree of risk a borrower represents to a lender, i.e., a borrower with a higher score may be less likely to default in payment than a borrower with a lower score.

As of December 31, 2019, approximately 0.8% of our customers were in default under their solar service agreements. However, as we grow our business, the risk of customer defaults may increase as credit scores are dynamic and may deteriorate over a 25-year period. During an economic downturn, the risk of customer defaults may increase. In addition, our customers may assign their solar service agreements to other customers who have lower credit scores or we may enter into new solar service agreements in the future with customers who have lower credit scores than our current customers. In addition, future developments, including competition from other renewables, could decrease the attractiveness of our current contracts. Although our solar service agreements grant us the ability to terminate the agreement with the customer and repossess the defaulting customers' solar energy system in certain circumstances, enforcement of these rights under the solar service agreement may be difficult, expensive and time-consuming.

Restrictive covenants in certain of our debt agreements could limit our growth and our ability to finance our operations, fund our capital needs, respond to changing conditions and engage in other business activities that may be in our best interests.

Our debt agreements impose operating and financial restrictions on us. These restrictions limit our ability and that of our subsidiaries to, among other things:


•	incur additional indebtedness;


•	make investments or loans;


•	create liens;


•	consummate mergers and similar fundamental changes;

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•	make restricted payments;


•	make investments in unrestricted subsidiaries;


•	enter into transactions with affiliates; and


•	use the proceeds of asset sales.

We may be prevented from taking advantage of business opportunities that arise because of the limitations imposed on us by the restrictive covenants under certain of our debt agreements. The restrictions contained in the covenants could:


•	limit our ability to plan for or react to market conditions, to meet capital needs or otherwise to restrict our activities or business plan; and


•	adversely affect our ability to finance our operations, enter into acquisitions or divestitures to engage in other business activities that would be in our interest.

A breach of any of these covenants or our inability to comply with the required financial ratios or financial condition tests could result in a default under our debt agreements that, if not cured or waived, could result in acceleration of all indebtedness outstanding thereunder and cross-default rights under our other debt. In addition, in the event of an event of default under one of the credit facilities, the affected lenders could foreclose on the collateral securing such credit facility and require repayment of all borrowings outstanding thereunder. If the amounts outstanding under the credit facilities or any of our other indebtedness were to be accelerated, our assets may not be sufficient to repay in full the amounts owed to the lenders or to our other debt holders.

Rising interest rates may adversely impact our business.

Rising interest rates will increase our cost of capital. Our future success depends on our ability to raise capital from investors and obtain secured lending to help finance the deployment of our solar service agreements. As a result, rising interest rates may have an adverse impact on our ability to offer attractive pricing on our solar service agreements to our customers.

The majority of our cash flows to date have been from solar service agreements monetized under various tax equity fund structures and secured lending arrangements. One of the components of this monetization is the present value of the payment streams from customers who enter into these long-term solar service agreements. If the rate of return required by capital providers, including debt providers, rises as a result of a rise in interest rates, it will reduce the present value of the customer payment stream and consequently reduce the total value derived from this type of monetization. Any measures we could take to mitigate the impact of rising interest rates on our ability to secure third-party financing could ultimately have an adverse impact on the value proposition we offer our customers or our profitability.

The phase-out of the London Interbank Offered Rate ("LIBOR") may adversely affect a portion of our outstanding debt.

LIBOR is scheduled to be phased out by the end of 2021. It is unclear whether new methods of determining LIBOR will be established such that it continues to exist after 2021, or if alternative floating borrowing rates will be adopted. Changes in the method of determining LIBOR, or the replacement of LIBOR with an alternative floating borrowing rate, may adversely affect our borrowing costs. Certain of our debt instruments have interest rates that are LIBOR based and will not have matured prior to the phase-out of LIBOR. We cannot predict the effect of the potential changes to LIBOR or the establishment and use of alternative floating borrowing rates on the portion of our outstanding debt that is LIBOR based. Challenges in changing to a different borrowing rate may result in less favorable pricing on certain of our debt instruments and could have an adverse effect on our financial results and cash flows.

Our business has benefited from the declining cost of solar energy system components and our business may be harmed to the extent the cost of such components stabilize or increase in the future.

Our business has benefited from the declining cost of solar energy system components and to the extent such costs stabilize, decline at a slower rate or increase, our future growth rate may be negatively impacted. The declining cost of solar energy system components and the raw materials necessary to manufacture them has been a key driver in the price of solar energy systems we own, the prices charged for electricity and customer adoption of solar energy. Solar energy system component and raw material prices may not continue to decline at the same rate as they have over the past several years or at all. In addition, growth in the solar industry and the resulting increase in demand for solar energy system components and the raw materials necessary to manufacture them may also put upward pressure on prices. An increase of solar energy system components and raw materials prices could slow our growth and cause our business and results of operations to suffer. Further, the cost of solar energy system components and raw materials has increased and could increase in the future due to tariff penalties, duties, the loss of or changes in economic governmental incentives or other factors. See "—Increases in the cost of

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our solar energy systems due to tariffs imposed by the U.S. government could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations".

We do not directly control certain costs related to our business, which could put us at a disadvantage relative to companies who have a vertically integrated business model.

We do not have direct control over the costs our suppliers charge for the components of our solar energy systems and energy storage systems or the costs to our dealers of installing and marketing such products. This may lead us to charge higher prices for our solar energy systems and energy storage systems than our competitors with a vertically integrated business model, causing us to be unable to maintain or increase market share.

We may be unsuccessful in introducing new service and product offerings, including our distributed energy storage services and energy storage management systems.

We intend to introduce new offerings of services and products to both new and existing customers in the future, including battery-based distributed energy storage services and energy storage management systems, home automation products and additional home technology solutions. We may be unsuccessful in significantly broadening our customer base through the addition of these services and products within our current markets or in new markets we may enter. Additionally, we may not be successful in generating substantial revenue from any additional services and products we may introduce in the future and may decline to initiate new product and service offerings.

We face competition from centralized electric utilities, retail electric providers, independent power producers and renewable energy companies.

The solar energy and renewable energy industries are both highly competitive and continually evolving as participants strive to distinguish themselves within their markets and compete with large centralized electric utilities. We believe our primary competitors are the centralized electric utilities that supply electricity to our potential customers. We compete with these centralized electric utilities primarily based on price (cents per kWh), predictability of future prices (by providing pre-determined annual price escalations) and the ease by which customers can switch to electricity generated by our solar energy systems. If we cannot offer compelling value to our customers based on these factors, our business may not grow.

Centralized electric utilities generally have substantially greater financial, technical, operational and other resources than we do. As a result, these competitors may be able to devote more resources to the research, development, promotion and sale of their products or services or respond more quickly to evolving industry standards and changes in market conditions than we can. Centralized electric utilities could also offer other value-added products or services that could help them to compete with us even if the cost of electricity they offer is higher than ours. In addition, a majority of utilities' sources of electricity is non-solar, which may allow utilities to sell electricity more cheaply than electricity generated by our solar energy systems. Centralized electric utilities could also offer customers the option of purchasing electricity obtained from renewable energy resources, including solar, which would compete with our offerings.

We also compete with retail electric providers and independent power producers not regulated like centralized electric utilities but which have access to the centralized utilities' electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure pursuant to state, territorial and local pro-competition and consumer choice policies. These retail electric providers and independent power producers are able to offer customers electricity supply-only solutions that are competitive with our solar energy system options on both price and usage of renewable energy technology while avoiding the long-term agreements and physical installations our current business model requires. This may limit our ability to acquire new customers, particularly those who wish to avoid long-term agreements or have an aesthetic or other objection to putting solar panels on their roofs.

We also compete with solar companies with vertically integrated business models, including sales, financing, engineering, manufacturing, installation, maintenance and monitoring services. If the integrated approach of our competitors is successful, it may limit our ability to originate solar energy systems. Many of our vertically integrated competitors are larger than we are. As a result, these competitors may be able to devote more resources to the research, development, promotion and sale of their products or services or respond more quickly to evolving industry standards and changes in market conditions than we can. Solar companies with vertically integrated business models could also offer other value-added products or services that could help them to compete with us.

In addition, we compete with other solar companies who sell or finance products directly to consumers, inclusive of programs like Property-Assessed Clean Energy financing programs established by local governments. For example, we face

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competition from solar installation businesses that seek financing from external parties or utilize competitive loan products or state and local programs.

We also compete with solar companies with business models similar to our own, some of which are marketed to potential customers by our dealers. Some of these competitors specialize in the distributed residential solar energy market and some may provide energy at lower costs than we do. Some of our competitors offer or may offer similar services and products as we do, such as leases, PPAs and direct outright sales of and consumer loan products for solar energy systems. Many of our competitors also have significant brand name recognition and have extensive knowledge of our target markets.

We also compete with solar companies that offer community solar products and utility companies that provide renewable power purchase programs. Some customers might choose to subscribe to a community solar project or renewable subscriber programs instead of installing a solar energy system on their home, which could affect our sales. Additionally, some utility companies (and some utility-like entities, such as community choice aggregators in California) have generation portfolios that are increasingly renewable in nature. In California, for example, due to recent legislation, utility companies and community choice aggregators in that state are required to have generation portfolios comprised of 60% renewable energy by 2030 and state regulators are planning for utility companies and community choice aggregators to sell 100% greenhouse gas free electricity to retail customers by 2045. As utility companies offer increasingly renewable portfolios to retail customers, those customers might be less inclined to install a solar energy system at their home, which could adversely affect our growth.

We have historically provided our services only to residential customers and do not currently intend to expand to commercial, industrial or governmental customers. We compete with companies who sell solar energy systems and services in the commercial, industrial and government markets, in addition to the residential market, in the U.S. and foreign markets. There is intense competition in the residential solar energy sector in the markets in which we operate. As new entrants continue to enter into these markets, we may be unable to grow or maintain our operations and we may be unable to compete with companies that earn revenue in both the residential market and non-residential markets. Further, because we provide our services exclusively to residential customers, we have a less diverse market presence and are more exposed to potential adverse changes in the residential market than our competitors that sell solar energy systems and services in the commercial, industrial, government and utility markets.

As the solar industry grows and evolves, we will also face new competitors and technologies who are not currently in the market. Our industry is characterized by low technological barriers to entry and well-capitalized companies, including utilities and integrated energy companies, could choose to enter the market and compete with us. Our failure to adapt to changing market conditions and to compete successfully with existing or new competitors will limit our growth and will have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Developments in technology or improvements in distributed solar energy generation and related technologies or components may materially adversely affect demand for our offerings.

Significant developments in technology, such as advances in distributed solar power generation, energy storage solutions such as batteries, energy storage management systems, the widespread use or adoption of fuel cells for residential or commercial properties or improvements in other forms of distributed or centralized power production may materially and adversely affect demand for our offerings and otherwise affect our business. Future technological advancements may result in reduced prices to consumers or more efficient solar energy systems than those available today, either of which may result in current customer dissatisfaction. We may not be able to adopt these new technologies as quickly as our competitors or on a cost-effective basis.

Due to the length of our solar service agreements, the solar energy system deployed on a customer's residence may be outdated prior to the expiration of the term of the related solar service agreement, reducing the likelihood of renewal of our solar service agreement at the end of the applicable term and possibly increasing the occurrence of customers seeking to terminate or cancel their solar service agreements or defaults. If current customers become dissatisfied with the price they pay for their solar energy system under our solar service agreements relative to prices that may be available in the future or if customers become dissatisfied by the output generated by their solar energy systems relative to future solar energy system production capabilities, or both, this may lead to customers seeking to terminate or cancel their solar service agreements or higher rates of customer default and have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, recent technological advancements may impact our business in ways we do not currently anticipate. Any failure by us to adopt or have access to new or enhanced technologies or processes, or to react to changes in existing technologies, could result in product obsolescence or the loss of competitiveness of and decreased consumer interest in our solar energy services, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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The value of our solar energy systems at the end of the associated term of the lease or PPA may be lower than projected, which may adversely affect our financial performance and valuation.

We depreciate the costs of our solar energy systems over their estimated useful life of 35 years. At the end of the initial term (typically 25 years) of the lease or PPA, customers may choose to purchase their solar energy systems, ask us to remove the solar energy system at our cost or renew their lease or PPA. Homeowners may choose to not renew or purchase for any reason, such as pricing, decreased energy consumption, relocation of residence, switching to a competitor product or technological obsolescence of the solar energy system. We are also contractually obligated to remove, store and reinstall the solar energy systems, typically for a nominal fee, if customers need to replace or repair their roofs. Furthermore, it is difficult to predict how future environmental regulations may affect the costs associated with the removal, disposal or recycling of our solar energy systems. If the residual value of the solar energy systems is less than we expect at the end of the customer contract, after giving effect to any associated removal and redeployment costs, we may be required to accelerate the recognition of all or some of the remaining unamortized costs. This could materially impair our future results of operations.

We and our dealers depend on a limited number of suppliers of solar energy system components and technologies to adequately meet demand for our solar energy systems. Due to the limited number of suppliers in our industry, the acquisition of any of these suppliers by a competitor or any shortage, delay, price change, imposition of tariffs or duties or other limitation in our or our dealers' ability to obtain components or technologies we use could result in sales and installation delays, cancelations and loss of customers.

We rely on our dealers to install solar energy systems and energy storage systems, each of whom has direct supplier arrangements. Our dealers purchase solar panels, inverters, energy storage systems and other system components and instruments from a limited number of suppliers, approved by us, making us susceptible to quality issues, shortages and price changes. For the year ended December 31, 2019, Hanwha Q-Cells and Yingli Green Energy supplied approximately 50% and 17%, respectively, of our solar photovoltaic panels installed and no other supplier represented more than 10% of our solar photovoltaic panels installed. Yingli Green Energy is currently undergoing a restructuring of its debt. There is no guarantee Yingli Green Energy will honor its existing warranty coverage or will continue to supply us with solar photovoltaic panels in the future following the completion of this restructuring. In 2018, Hanwha Q-Cells and Trina Solar Limited supplied approximately 52% and 22%, respectively, of our solar photovoltaic panels installed and no other supplier represented more than 10% of our solar photovoltaic panels installed. For the year ended December 31, 2019, Enphase Energy, Inc. and SolarEdge Technologies Inc. accounted for approximately 58% and 42%, respectively, of the inverters used in our solar energy system installations. In 2018, Enphase Energy, Inc. and SolarEdge Technologies Inc. accounted for approximately 55% and 43%, respectively, of the inverters used in our solar energy system installations. For the year ended December 31, 2019, Tesla, Inc. accounted for 100% of our energy storage system purchases. In 2018, Tesla, Inc. and LG Chem Ltd. accounted for approximately 86% and 13%, respectively, of our energy storage system purchases. If one or more of the suppliers we and our dealers rely upon to meet anticipated demand ceases or reduces production due to its financial condition, acquisition by a competitor or otherwise, is unable to increase production as industry demand increases or is otherwise unable to allocate sufficient production to us and our dealers, it may be difficult to quickly identify alternative suppliers or to qualify alternative products on commercially reasonable terms and our ability and the ability of our dealers to satisfy this demand may be adversely affected. There are a limited number of suppliers of solar energy system components, instruments and technologies. While we believe there are other sources of supply for these products available, a dealer's need to transition to a new supplier may result in additional costs and delays in originating solar service agreements and deploying our related solar energy systems or energy storage systems, which in turn may result in additional costs and delays in our acquisition of such solar service agreements and related solar energy systems and energy storage systems. These issues could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

There have also been periods of industry-wide shortages of key components and instruments, including batteries and inverters, in times of rapid industry growth. The manufacturing infrastructure for some of these components has a long lead-time, requires significant capital investment and relies on the continued availability of key commodity materials, potentially resulting in an inability to meet demand for these components. The solar industry is currently experiencing rapid growth and, as a result, shortages of key components or instruments, including solar panels, may be more likely to occur, which in turn may result in price increases for such components. Even if industry-wide shortages do not occur, suppliers may decide to allocate key components or instruments with high demand or insufficient production capacity to more profitable customers, customers with long-term supply agreements or customers other than us, our dealers or other third parties from whom we may originate solar energy systems and our ability to originate solar service agreements and related solar energy systems and energy storage systems may be reduced as a result.

During January 2020, a strain of coronavirus surfaced in Wuhan, China. In an effort to halt the outbreak, the Chinese government has placed significant restrictions on travel within China and closed certain businesses, including solar

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manufacturers, in numerous provinces, and governments and other parties outside of China have halted or sharply curtailed the movement of people, goods and services to and from China. The substantial majority of our inverters, as well as other goods used in our business, are sourced from China. If the impacts of the coronavirus outbreak, including the accompanying travel restrictions and business closures, continue for an extended period of time or worsen, the supply and pricing of our inverters and other goods and therefore the ability of our dealers to install new solar energy systems could be adversely affected. The extent of the impact of the coronavirus on our business and operations will depend on, among other factors, the ultimate geographic spread of the virus, the duration and severity of the outbreak, travel restrictions and business closures imposed in China or other countries, the ability of our suppliers to increase their production of goods in jurisdictions other than China, our ability to contract for supply from other sources on acceptable terms and the willingness of our lenders to permit us to switch suppliers.

Increases in the cost of our solar energy systems due to tariffs imposed by the U.S. government could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

China is a major producer of solar cells and other solar products. Certain solar cells, modules, laminates and panels from China are subject to various U.S. antidumping and countervailing duty rates, depending on the exporter supplying the product, imposed by the U.S. government as a result of determinations that the U.S. was materially injured as a result of such imports being sold at less than fair value and subsidized by the Chinese government. While historically our dealers have purchased a number of these products from manufacturers in China, currently such purchases are immaterial and sourced from manufacturers in other jurisdictions. If these alternative sources are no longer available on competitive terms in the future, we and our dealers may seek to purchase these products from manufacturers in China. In addition, tariffs on solar cells, modules and inverters in China may put upwards pressure on prices of these products in other jurisdictions from which our dealers currently purchase equipment, which could reduce our ability to offer competitive pricing to potential customers.

The antidumping and countervailing duties discussed above are subject to annual review and may be increased or decreased. Furthermore, under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, the U.S. Trade Representative imposed tariffs on $200 billion worth of imports from China, including inverters and certain AC modules and non-lithium-ion batteries, effective September 24, 2018. In May 2019, the tariffs were increased from 10% to 25% and may be raised by the U.S. Trade Representative in the future. Since these tariffs impact the purchase price of the solar products, these tariffs raise the cost associated with purchasing these solar products from China and reduce the competitive pressure on providers of solar cells not subject to these tariffs.

In addition, on January 22, 2018, the President of the U.S. announced, effective February 7, 2018, the imposition of a global 30% ad valorem tariff, with certain qualifications and exceptions, on certain imported solar cells and modules, which steps down by five percentage points each year over the next three years and then phases out in 2022. Since such actions increase the cost of imported solar products, to the extent we or our dealers use imported solar products or domestic producers are able to raise their prices for their solar products, the overall cost of the solar energy systems will increase, which could reduce our ability to offer competitive pricing in certain markets.

We cannot predict what additional actions the U.S. may adopt with respect to tariffs or other trade regulations or what actions may be taken by other countries in retaliation for such measures. If additional measures are imposed or other negotiated outcomes occur, our ability or the ability of our dealers to purchase these products on competitive terms or to access specialized technologies from other countries could be further limited, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Warranties provided by the manufacturers of equipment for our assets and maintenance obligations of our dealers may be limited by the ability of a supplier and/or dealer to satisfy its warranty or performance obligations or by the expiration of applicable time or liability limits, which could reduce or void the warranty protections or may be limited in scope or magnitude of liabilities and thus, the warranties and maintenance obligations may be inadequate to protect us.

We agree to maintain the solar energy systems and energy storage systems installed on our customers' homes during the length of the term of our solar service agreements, which is typically 25 years. We are exposed to any liabilities arising from the solar energy systems' failure to operate properly and are generally under an obligation to ensure each solar energy system remains in good condition during the term of the agreement. We are the beneficiary of the panel manufacturers' warranty coverage, typically of 10 years for material and workmanship and 25 years for performance, the inverter manufacturers' warranty coverage, typically from 10 to 25 years and the energy storage manufacturers' warranty coverage, typically of 10 years. Furthermore, our dealers provide warranties as to their workmanship. In the event that such warranty providers or dealers file for bankruptcy, cease operations or otherwise become unable or unwilling to fulfill their warranty or maintenance obligations, we may not be adequately protected by such warranties or maintenance obligations. Even if such warranty or

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maintenance providers or dealers fulfill their obligations, the warranty or maintenance obligations may not be sufficient to protect us against all of our losses. In addition, our warranties are of limited duration, ranging from one year, in the case of certain solar energy system and transformer warranties, to 25 years, in the case of certain panel performance warranties, after the date each equipment item is delivered or commissioned, although the useful life of our solar energy systems is 35 years. These warranties are subject to liability and other limits. If we seek warranty protection and a warranty provider is unable or unwilling to perform its warranty obligations, or if a dealer is unable or unwilling to perform its maintenance obligations, whether as a result of its financial condition or otherwise, or if the term of the warranty or maintenance obligation has expired or a liability limit has been reached, there may be a reduction or loss of protection for the affected assets, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our failure to accurately predict future liabilities related to material quality or performance expenses could result in unexpected volatility in our financial condition. Because of the long estimated useful life of our solar energy systems, we have been required to make assumptions and apply judgments regarding a number of factors, including our anticipated rate of warranty claims and the durability, performance and reliability of our solar energy systems. We made these assumptions based on the historic performance of similar solar energy systems or on accelerated life cycle testing. Our assumptions could prove to be materially different from the actual performance of our solar energy systems, causing us to incur substantial expense to repair or replace defective solar energy systems in the future or to compensate customers for solar energy systems that do not meet their performance guarantees. Equipment defects, serial defects or operational deficiencies also would reduce our revenue from solar service agreements because the customer payments under such agreements are dependent on solar energy system production or would require us to make refunds under performance guarantees. Any widespread product failures or operating deficiencies may damage our market reputation and adversely impact our financial results. For further discussion of these potential charges and related proposals, see "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Components of Results of Operations".

Our operating results and our ability to grow may fluctuate from quarter to quarter and year to year, which could make our future performance difficult to predict and could cause our operating results for a particular period to fall below expectations.

Our quarterly and annual operating results and our ability to grow are difficult to predict and may fluctuate significantly in the future. We have experienced seasonal and quarterly fluctuations in the past and expect to experience such fluctuations in the future. In addition to the other risks described in this "Risk Factors" section, the following factors could cause our operating results to fluctuate:


•	expiration or initiation of any governmental rebates or incentives;


•	significant fluctuations in customer demand for our solar energy services, solar energy systems and energy storage systems;


•	our dealers' ability to complete installations in a timely manner;


•	our and our dealers' ability to gain interconnection permission for an installed solar energy system from the relevant utility;


•	the availability and costs of suitable financing;


•	the amount, timing of sales and potential decreases in value of SRECs;


•	our ability to continue to expand our operations and the amount and timing of expenditures related to this expansion;


•	announcements by us or our competitors of significant acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital-raising activities or commitments;


•	changes in our pricing policies or terms or those of our competitors, including centralized electric utilities;


•	actual or anticipated developments in our competitors' businesses, technology or the competitive landscape; and


•	natural disasters or other weather or meteorological conditions.

For these or other reasons, the results of any prior quarterly or annual periods should not be relied upon as indications of our future performance.

If we are unable to make acquisitions on economically acceptable terms, our future growth would be limited, and any acquisitions we may make may reduce, rather than increase, our cash flows.

We may make acquisitions of solar energy systems, energy storage systems and related businesses and joint ventures. The consummation and timing of any future acquisitions will depend upon, among other things, whether we are able to:


•	identify attractive acquisition candidates;


•	negotiate acceptable purchase agreements;

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•	obtain any required governmental or third party consents;


•	obtain financing for these acquisitions on economically acceptable terms, which may be more difficult at times when the capital markets are less accessible; and


•	outbid any competing bidders.

Additionally, any acquisition involves potential risks, including, among other things:


•	mistaken assumptions about assets, revenues and costs of the acquired company, including synergies and potential growth;


•	an inability to secure adequate customer commitments to use the acquired systems or facilities;


•	an inability to successfully integrate the assets or businesses we acquire;


•	coordinating geographically disparate organizations, systems and facilities;


•	the assumption of unknown liabilities for which we are not indemnified or for which our indemnity is inadequate;


•	mistaken assumptions about the acquired company's suppliers or dealers or other vendors;


•	the diversion of management's and employees' attention from other business concerns;


•	unforeseen difficulties operating in new geographic areas and business lines;


•	customer or key employee losses at the acquired business; and


•	poor quality assets or installation.

If we consummate any future acquisitions, our capitalization, results of operations and future growth may change significantly and our stockholders will not have the opportunity to evaluate the economic, financial and other relevant information we will consider in deciding to engage in these future acquisitions, which may not improve our results of operations or cash flow to the extent we projected.

The solar energy systems we own or may originate have a limited operating history and may not perform as we expect.

Many of the solar energy systems we currently own or may originate in the future have not commenced operations, have recently commenced operations or otherwise have a limited operating history. Of the solar energy systems we owned as of December 31, 2019, 23%, 19% and 16% were placed into service in 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. The ability of our solar energy systems to perform as we expect will also be subject to risks inherent in newly constructed renewable energy assets, including breakdowns and outages, latent defects, equipment that performs below our expectations, system failures and outages. As a result, our assumptions and estimates regarding the performance of these solar energy systems are, and will be, made without the benefit of a meaningful operating history, which may impair our ability to accurately assess the potential profitability of the solar energy systems and, in turn, our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

The cost of maintenance or repair of solar energy systems or energy storage systems throughout the term of the associated solar service agreement or the removal of solar energy systems at the end of the term of the associated solar service agreement may be higher than projected today and adversely affect our financial performance and valuation.

If we incur repair and maintenance costs on our solar energy systems or energy storage systems after the individual component warranties have expired and if they then fail or malfunction, we will be liable for the expense of repairing these solar energy systems or energy storage systems without a chance of recovery from our suppliers. In addition, we typically bear the cost of removing the solar energy systems at the end of the term of the lease or PPA if the customer does not renew his or her agreement or elect to purchase the solar energy system at the end of its term. Furthermore, it is difficult to predict how future environmental regulations may affect the costs associated with the repair, removal, disposal or recycling of our solar energy systems. This could materially impair our future operating results.

Problems with performance of our solar energy systems may cause us to incur expenses, may lower the value of our solar energy systems and may damage our market reputation and adversely affect our business.

Our long-term leases and loan agreements contain a performance guarantee in favor of the customer. Solar service agreements with performance guarantees require us to provide a bill credit (or in limited cases, refund money) to the customer if the solar energy system fails to generate the minimum amount of electricity, as specified in the solar service agreement, in a given term, beginning with the first three year period after execution of the solar service agreement and annually thereafter. We may also suffer financial losses associated with such credit and refunds if significant performance guarantee payments are triggered. For a description of our performance guarantee obligations, see "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Components of Results of Operations—Revenue".

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We and our dealers are subject to risks associated with installation and other contingencies.

Our dealers design and install solar energy systems and energy storage systems on our behalf. Because the solar service agreement is entered into between us and the customer, we may be liable to our customers for any damage our dealers cause to our customers' homes, belongings or property during the installation of our solar energy systems and energy storage systems or otherwise.

For example, dealers may penetrate our customers' roofs during the installation process and we may incur liability for the failure to adequately weatherproof such penetrations following the completion of installation of solar energy systems. In addition, because our solar energy systems and energy storage systems are high-voltage energy systems, we may incur liability for a dealer's failure to comply with electrical standards and manufacturer recommendations. Furthermore, prior to obtaining permission to operate our solar energy systems and energy storage systems, the solar energy systems and energy storage systems must pass various inspections. Any delay in passing, or inability to pass, such inspections, would adversely affect our results of operations. Because our profit on a particular solar service agreement and related solar energy system and energy storage system, if applicable, is based in part on assumptions as to the ongoing cost of the related solar energy system and energy storage system, if applicable, cost overruns, delays or other execution issues may cause us to not achieve our expected results or cover our costs for that solar service agreement and related solar energy system and energy storage systems, if applicable.

Product liability claims against us or accidents could result in adverse publicity and potentially significant monetary damages.

It is possible our solar energy systems or energy storage systems could injure our customers or other third parties or our solar energy systems or energy storage systems could cause property damage as a result of product malfunctions, defects, improper installation, fire or other causes. Any product liability claim we face could be expensive to defend and may divert management's attention. The successful assertion of product liability claims against us could result in potentially significant monetary damages, potential increases in insurance expenses, penalties or fines, subject us to adverse publicity, damage our reputation and competitive position and adversely affect sales of solar energy systems or energy storage systems. In addition, product liability claims, injuries, defects or other problems experienced by other companies in the residential solar industry could lead to unfavorable market conditions to the industry as a whole and may have an adverse effect on our ability to expand our portfolio of solar service agreements and related solar energy systems and energy storage systems, thus affecting our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Inflation could result in decreased value from future contractual payments and higher expenses for labor and equipment, which, in turn, could adversely impact our reputation, business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

Any future increase in inflation may adversely affect our costs, including our dealers' cost of labor and equipment, and may result in a decrease in value in our future contractual payments. Many of our solar service agreements, which generally have a term of 25 years, do not contain any pricing escalators. The pricing escalators we do have may not keep pace with inflation, which would result in the agreement yielding decreased value over time. These factors could adversely impact our reputation, business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

We are not able to insure against all potential risks and we may become subject to higher insurance premiums.

We are exposed to numerous risks inherent in the operation of solar energy systems and energy storage systems, including equipment failure, manufacturing defects, natural disasters such as hurricanes, fires and earthquakes, terrorist attacks, sabotage, vandalism and environmental risks. Furthermore, components of our solar energy systems and energy storage systems, such as panels, inverters and batteries, could be damaged by severe weather, such as tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, hailstorms or lightning. If our solar energy systems or energy storage systems are damaged in the event of a natural disaster beyond our control, losses could be outside the scope of insurance policies or exceed insurance policy limits and we could incur unforeseen costs that could harm our business and financial condition. We may also incur significant additional costs in taking actions in preparation for, or in reaction to, such events.

Our insurance policies also cover legal and contractual liabilities arising out of bodily injury, personal injury or property damage to third parties and are subject to policy limits. We also maintain coverage for physical damage to our solar energy assets.

However, such policies do not cover all potential losses and coverage is not always available in the insurance market on commercially reasonable terms. In addition, we may have disagreements with our insurers on the amount of our recoverable

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damages and the insurance proceeds received for any loss of, or any damage to, any of our assets may be claimed by lenders under our financing arrangements or otherwise may not be sufficient to restore the loss or damage without a negative impact on our results of operations. Furthermore, the receipt of insurance proceeds may be delayed, requiring us to use cash or incur financing costs in the interim. To the extent we experience covered losses under our insurance policies, the limit of our coverage for potential losses may be decreased or the insurance rates we have to pay increased. Furthermore, the losses insured through commercial insurance are subject to the credit risk of those insurance companies. While we believe our commercial insurance providers are currently creditworthy, we cannot assure you such insurance companies will remain so in the future.

We may not be able to maintain or obtain insurance of the type and amount we desire at reasonable rates. The insurance coverage we do obtain may contain large deductibles or fail to cover certain risks or all potential losses. In addition, our insurance policies are subject to annual review by our insurers and may not be renewed on similar or favorable terms, including coverage, deductibles or premiums, or at all. If a significant accident or event occurs for which we are not fully insured or we suffer losses due to one or more of our insurance carriers defaulting on their obligations or contesting their coverage obligations, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We typically bear the risk of loss and the cost of maintenance, repair and removal on solar energy systems that are owned by our subsidiaries and included in securitization and tax equity vehicles.

We typically bear the risk of loss and are generally obligated to cover the cost of maintenance, repair and removal for any solar energy system we sell to subsidiaries and include in securitization and tax equity vehicles. At the time we enter into a tax equity or securitization transaction, we enter into a maintenance services agreement where we agree to operate and maintain the solar energy system for a fixed fee calculated to cover our future expected maintenance costs. If our solar energy systems require an above-average amount of repairs or if the cost of repairing the solar energy systems were higher than our estimate, we would need to perform such repairs without additional compensation. If our solar energy systems are damaged as the result of a natural disaster beyond our control, losses could exceed or be excluded from our insurance policy limits and we could incur unforeseen costs that could harm our business and financial condition. We may also incur significant costs for taking other actions in preparation for, or in reaction to, such events. We purchase property insurance with industry standard coverage and limits approved by an investor's third-party insurance advisors to hedge against such risk, but such coverage may not cover our losses.

Certain of our solar energy systems are located in, and we conduct business in, Puerto Rico and weakness in the fiscal health of the government and PREPA, the damage caused by Hurricane Maria, a series of earthquakes which affected the island in December 2019 and early 2020 and potential tax increases that may increase our cost of conducting business in Puerto Rico, create uncertainty that may adversely impact us. In addition, we are subject to administrative proceedings instituted by the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau.

Price	11.65	EPS	-1
Shares	61	P/E	-8
MCap	709	P/FCF	-38
Net Debt	1,067	EBIT	-84
TEV	1,776	TEV/EBIT	-21
TTM 2019-09-30, in MM, except price, ratios

10-K	2019-12-31	Filed 2020-02-25
10-Q	2019-09-30	Filed 2019-10-31
10-Q	2019-06-30	Filed 2019-08-19
S-1	2019-06-27	Public Filing
10-K	2018-12-31	Filed 2019-03-19
10-Q	2018-09-30	Filed 2018-11-07
10-Q	2018-06-30	Filed 2018-08-09
10-Q	2018-03-31	Filed 2018-05-04
10-K	2017-12-31	Filed 2018-03-23
10-Q	2017-09-30	Filed 2017-11-09
10-Q	2017-06-30	Filed 2017-08-08
10-Q	2017-03-31	Filed 2017-05-10
10-K	2016-12-31	Filed 2017-03-20
10-Q	2016-09-30	Filed 2016-11-03
10-Q	2016-06-30	Filed 2016-08-08
10-Q	2016-03-31	Filed 2016-05-12
10-K	2015-12-31	Filed 2016-03-22
10-Q	2015-09-30	Filed 2015-10-30
10-Q	2015-06-30	Filed 2015-08-11
10-Q	2015-03-31	Filed 2015-05-08
10-K	2014-12-31	Filed 2015-02-23
10-Q	2014-09-30	Filed 2014-11-12
10-Q	2014-06-30	Filed 2014-07-29
10-Q	2014-03-31	Filed 2014-05-08
10-K	2013-12-31	Filed 2014-03-28
10-Q	2013-09-30	Filed 2013-11-12
10-Q	2013-06-30	Filed 2013-08-09
10-Q	2013-03-31	Filed 2013-05-03
10-K	2012-12-31	Filed 2013-03-27
10-Q	2012-09-30	Filed 2012-11-06
10-Q	2012-08-13	Filed 2012-08-13
10-Q	2012-03-31	Filed 2012-05-11
10-K	2011-12-31	Filed 2012-03-29
10-Q	2011-09-30	Filed 2011-11-14
10-Q	2011-06-30	Filed 2011-08-03
10-Q	2011-03-31	Filed 2011-05-02
10-K	2010-12-31	Filed 2011-03-22
10-Q	2010-09-30	Filed 2010-11-10
10-Q	2010-06-30	Filed 2010-08-13
10-Q	2010-03-31	Filed 2010-05-17
10-K	2009-12-31	Filed 2010-03-24

8-K	2020-04-02	Enter Agreement
8-K	2020-03-03	Enter Agreement
8-K	2020-02-24	Earnings, Regulation FD, Exhibits
8-K	2020-02-14	Enter Agreement, Leave Agreement, Off-BS Arrangement, Regulation FD, Exhibits
8-K	2020-02-11	Enter Agreement, Off-BS Arrangement, Exhibits
8-K	2020-02-04	Enter Agreement
8-K	2020-01-23	Regulation FD, Exhibits
8-K	2019-12-05	Enter Agreement
8-K	2019-10-31	Earnings, Regulation FD, Exhibits
8-K	2019-10-16	Officers, Exhibits
8-K	2019-10-03	Enter Agreement
8-K	2019-09-13	Enter Agreement, Exhibits
8-K	2019-09-12	Enter Agreement
8-K	2019-08-30	Regulation FD
8-K	2019-08-19	Earnings, Regulation FD, Exhibits
8-K	2019-07-24	Enter Agreement, Sale of Shares, Shareholder Rights, Officers, Amend Bylaw, Other Events, Exhibits
8-K	2018-01-23	Accountant, Exhibits

EX-4.1	exhibit41-descriptiono.htm
EX-4.9	exhibit49-registration.htm
EX-4.10	exhibit410-convertible.htm
EX-10.4	exhibit104-amendmentno.htm
EX-10.32	exhibit1032-tepholding.htm
EX-10.33	exhibit1033-tepivamend.htm
EX-10.34	exhibit1034-convertibl.htm
EX-10.35	exhibit1035-safeharbor.htm
EX-10.36	exhibit1036-safeharbor.htm
EX-21.1	exhibit211-subsidiaryl.htm
EX-23.1	a2019ex231.htm
EX-31.1	a2019ex311.htm
EX-31.2	a2019ex312.htm
EX-32.1	a2019ex321.htm
EX-32.2	a2019ex322.htm

NOVA 10K Annual Report

Sunnova Energy Earnings 2019-12-31