Sunnova Energy Earnings 2020-12-31
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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 , 2020
OR
| 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
_______________________________________________________________________________
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
_______________________________________________________________________________
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) | |||||||||||||
(Address, including zip code, of principal executive offices)
(281 ) 892-1588
(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 | ||||||
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 | ☐ | ☒ | ||||||||||||
| 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 has filed a report on and attestation to its management's assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒
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 $17.07 as reported on the New York Stock Exchange on June 30, 2020 (the last business day of the Registrant's most recently completed second fiscal quarter), was approximately $571.6 million.
The registrant had 108,065,275 shares of common stock outstanding as of February 22, 2021.
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"). Unless the context otherwise requires, the terms "Sunnova," "the Company," "we," "us" and "our" refer to Sunnova Energy International Inc. ("SEI") and its consolidated subsidiaries. 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," "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:
•our ability to consummate the Acquisition (as defined herein);
•the benefits of the Acquisition;
•our future operations and financial performance following the Acquisition;
•the effects of the coronavirus ("COVID-19") pandemic on our business and operations, results of operations and financial position;
•federal, state and local statutes, regulations and policies;
•determinations of the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") 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, performance and continued existence of our dealers;
•our ability to manage our supply chains and distribution channels and the impact of natural disasters and other events beyond our control, such as the COVID-19 pandemic;
•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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Summary of Risk Factors
The risk factors detailed in Item 1A entitled "Risk Factors" in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, are the risks we believe are material to our investors and a reader should carefully consider them. The following is a summary of the risk factors detailed in Item 1A:
Risks Related to Our Business
•The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
•Historically, we have incurred operating and net losses and we may be unable to achieve or sustain profitability in the future.
•If our allowance for credit losses is not enough to cover actual credit losses from our customer notes receivable portfolio, our results of operations and financial condition could be negatively affected.
•Certain of our key operational metrics, including estimated gross contracted customer value, are based on various assumptions and estimates we make that cover 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 growth strategy depends on the continued origination of solar service agreements by us and our dealers.
•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.
•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.
•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.
•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.
•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.
•We are exposed to the credit risk of our customers.
•Rising interest rates may adversely impact our business.
•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.
•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 may be unsuccessful in introducing new service and product offerings, including our distributed energy storage services and energy storage management systems.
•We face competition from centralized electric utilities, retail electric providers, independent power producers and renewable energy companies.
•Developments in technology or improvements in distributed solar energy generation and related technologies or components may materially adversely affect demand for our offerings.
•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.
•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.
•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.
•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.
•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 in September 2017, a series of earthquakes that 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.
•Our business is concentrated in certain markets, putting us at risk of region-specific disruptions.
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•Our business is subject to complex and evolving U.S. laws and regulations regarding privacy and data protection ("data protection laws"). Many of these laws and regulations are subject to change and uncertain interpretation and could result in claims, increased cost of operations or otherwise harm our business.
•Our actual financial results may differ materially from any guidance we may publish from time to time.
Risks Related to the Acquisition
•We may not be successful in completing the Acquisition.
•We expect to incur significant transaction and acquisition related costs in connection with the Acquisition.
•The success of the Acquisition and our ability to derive our expected benefits from the Acquisition are subject to substantial risks.
•The Acquisition is subject to substantial integration risks that could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
•Our results may suffer if we do not effectively manage our expanded operations following the Acquisition.
Risks Related to Regulation
•We are not currently regulated as an electric public utility under applicable law but may be subject to regulation as an electric utility in the future.
•Electric utility policies and regulations, including those affecting electric rates, may present regulatory and economic barriers to the purchase and use of solar energy systems that may significantly reduce demand for electricity from our solar energy systems and adversely impact our ability to originate new solar service agreements.
•We rely on net metering and related policies to offer competitive pricing to our customers in most of our current markets and changes to net metering policies may significantly reduce demand for electricity from residential solar energy systems.
•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.
•Our business depends in part on the regulatory treatment of third-party owned solar energy systems.
•Technical and regulatory limitations regarding the interconnection of solar energy systems to the electrical grid may significantly reduce our ability to sell electricity from our solar energy systems in certain markets or delay interconnections and customer in-service dates, harming our growth rate and customer satisfaction.
Risks Related to Our Common Stock
•We do not intend to pay, and our credit facilities currently prohibit us from paying, cash dividends on our common stock and, consequently, your only opportunity to achieve a return on your investment is if the price of our common stock appreciates.
•The market price of our common stock could be materially adversely affected by sales of substantial amounts of our common stock in the public markets, including sales by entities affiliated with Energy Capital Partners ("ECP") and Newlight Partners ("Newlight").
•The price of our common stock is volatile and may decline in value.
•If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or if they issue an adverse or misleading opinion regarding our common stock, our common stock price and trading volume could decline.
•Ownership of our common stock by current stockholders is expected to remain significant.
•Provisions of our charter documents and Delaware law may inhibit a takeover, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our common stock.
Risks Related to Taxation
•Our ability to use net operating loss carryforwards ("NOLs") and tax credit carryforwards to offset future income taxes is subject to limitation and the amount of such carryforwards may be subject to challenge or reduction.
•Changes in tax law could adversely affect our business.
•If the IRS or the U.S. Treasury Department 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.
•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.
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Table of Contents
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| PART I | ||||||||
| Item 1. | ||||||||
| Item 1A. | ||||||||
| Item 1B. | ||||||||
| Item 2. | ||||||||
| Item 3. | ||||||||
| Item 4. | ||||||||
| PART II | ||||||||
| Item 5. | ||||||||
| Item 6. | ||||||||
| Item 7. | ||||||||
| Item 7A. | ||||||||
| Item 8. | ||||||||
| Item 9. | ||||||||
| Item 9A. | ||||||||
| Item 9B. | ||||||||
| PART III | ||||||||
| Item 10. | ||||||||
| Item 11. | ||||||||
| Item 12. | ||||||||
| Item 13. | ||||||||
| Item 14. | ||||||||
| PART IV | ||||||||
| Item 15. | ||||||||
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PART I - FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Item 1. Business.
Mission
To power energy independence.
Acquisition of SunStreet
In February 2021, we entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the "Merger Agreement") with certain of our subsidiaries, SunStreet Energy Group, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company ("SunStreet"), and LEN X, LLC, a Florida limited liability company, the sole member of SunStreet and a wholly owned subsidiary of Lennar Corporation ("Lenx"). Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, we will acquire SunStreet, Lennar Corporation's residential solar platform, in exchange for up to 7,222,229 shares of our common stock (the "Acquisition"), comprised of 3,333,333 shares in initial consideration to be issued at closing, subject to purchase price adjustment, and up to 3,888,896 shares issuable as earnout consideration after closing of the Acquisition. The Acquisition is expected to provide a new strategic path to further scale our business and develop clean and resilient residential microgrids across the United States ("U.S.").
The completion of the Acquisition is subject to, among other customary mutual conditions, our entry into (a) a transition services agreement, (b) a stockholders agreement, which will provide for certain registration rights and standstill provisions, (c) a master management and services agreement with an affiliate of Lennar Corporation, which will provide for SunStreet's continued provision of operating, maintenance and servicing services for solar service agreements of Lennar Corporation customers, (d) an exclusivity agreement with Lennar Corporation and (e) initial tax equity fund documents. The Merger Agreement contains termination rights if, among other things, the Acquisition does not close on or before September 1, 2021. The Acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021. See "Item 1A. Risk Factors" for discussion of risks related to the Acquisition.
Earnout Agreement
Pursuant to the Earnout Agreement entered into between us and Lenx, Lenx will have the ability to earn up to 3,888,896 additional shares of common stock over a five-year period in connection with the Acquisition. The earnout payments are conditioned on SunStreet meeting certain commercial milestones tied to achieving specified origination targets. There are two elements to the earnout arrangement. First, we will issue up to 2,777,784 shares if we and our subsidiaries (including SunStreet) place target amounts of solar energy systems into service and enter into qualifying customer agreements related to such solar energy systems through SunStreet's existing homebuilding process. The 2,777,784 shares of common stock issuable under this prong of the earnout can be earned in four installments on a yearly basis (if the origination target for each such year is achieved) or at the end of the four-year period (if the aggregate origination target is achieved in the fourth and final year), with the annual periods commencing on the closing date of the Acquisition. The second element of the earnout is related to the development of microgrid communities. Pursuant to this portion of the earnout, we will issue up to 1,111,112 shares if, prior to the fifth anniversary of the closing date of the Acquisition, we enter into binding agreements for the development of microgrid communities.
Exclusivity Agreement
In connection with the Acquisition, we will become Lennar Corporation's exclusive residential solar and storage service provider for new home communities with solar across the U.S. for a period of four years. Under the exclusivity agreement, Lennar Corporation will agree to exclusively use us or our subsidiaries as its solar and storage service provider. In addition, through the exclusivity agreement we will have the opportunity to leverage Lennar Corporation's existing customer relationships to offer solar service agreements to those customers without an existing solar energy system. Lennar Corporation will retain the ability to terminate the exclusivity agreement if we fail to maintain certain specified performance obligations on a regular basis, including the failure to timely install solar and storage equipment across its new home communities. We are also required to offer competitive prices to Lennar Corporation's homebuyers and incentives to Lennar Corporation.
Tax Equity Commitment
In connection with the Acquisition, Lennar Corporation has committed to contribute an aggregate $200.0 million (the "Funding Commitment") to four Sunnova tax equity funds, each formed annually during a period of four consecutive years (each such year, a "Contribution Year") commencing in 2021. The solar service agreements and related solar energy systems
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acquired by each of these four tax equity funds will generally be originated by SunStreet, though a certain number of solar service agreements may be originated by our dealers if those originated by SunStreet do not fully utilize Lennar Corporation's Funding Commitment for a given Contribution Year. Any amount not utilized during the first and second Contribution Years will increase the Funding Commitment during the third Contribution Year by that amount, and any amount not utilized during the third Contribution Year will increase the Funding Commitment during the fourth Contribution Year by that amount. In connection with the Funding Commitment, each of the tax equity funds will enter into typical tax equity fund transaction documentation, including development and purchase agreements, servicing agreements and limited liability company agreements.
Overview
We are a leading residential solar and energy storage service provider, serving over 107,000 customers in more than 20 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, as well as technical oversight and expertise. We believe this structure provides operational flexibility, reduces exposure to labor shortages and lowers 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 compared to utility-based retail rates with little to no up-front expense to the customer in conjunction with solar and solar plus energy storage, and in the case of the latter are able to also provide energy resiliency. We also make it possible in some states for a customer to obtain a new roof and other ancillary products as part of their solar loan. 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 10, 15 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, 2020, we have raised more than $6.7 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 third parties. Under these arrangements, we agree to provide 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.
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 rapid 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 790 megawatts of generation capacity and serving more than 107,000 customers. We define number of customers to include each unique customer that is party to a solar service agreement or purchased a solar energy system from us outright, which we subsequently placed in service. 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
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Operational Metrics". The following chart illustrates the growth in our number of customers from December 31, 2016 through December 31, 2020.
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 that serve customers who 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 and reputation for customer service 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.
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 and virtual 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
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submits its proposal to us for approval. Before proceeding to the design phase, we confirm that every 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.
•Customer Billing Dates. How soon we will begin billing the customer after the solar energy system has been placed in service will vary by product offering. Lease agreements will begin billing on the first cycle date after the solar energy system has been placed in service, generally within 30 days. PPAs will begin billing on the first cycle date in the next calendar month after the solar energy system has been placed in service, generally between 15 and 60 days after the solar energy system has been placed in service. Loan agreements require that the solar energy system must be in service at least 30 days prior to the date when billing can begin. As a result, billing on loan agreements generally begins the first cycle date in the next calendar month after the solar energy system has been placed in service.
•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.
For the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, Trinity Solar, Inc. ("Trinity") accounted for approximately 28% and 41% of our net 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
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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. During the year ended December 31, 2020, Infinity Energy, Inc. accounted for 12% of our net originations. No dealer other than Trinity and Infinity Energy, Inc. accounted for more than 10% of our net originations during 2020 or 2019.
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.
•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.
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Customer Agreements
| Sunnova Service | Agreement Type(s) | Sunnova Plan(s) | Description | Initial Term | ||||||||||
| Sunnova Home Solar Service | Lease | Easy PlanTM equipment lease | Lease of solar energy system | 25 years | ||||||||||
| PPA | Easy PlanTM PPA | Sale of solar energy production | 25 years | |||||||||||
| Loan | Easy Own PlanTM equipment purchase | Sale of solar energy system | 10 or 25 years | |||||||||||
Sunnova SunSafe® Solar + Battery Storage Service | Lease | Easy PlanTM equipment lease | Lease of energy storage system to be used with a solar energy system | 25 years | ||||||||||
| Loan | Easy Own PlanTM equipment purchase | Sale of energy storage system to be used with a solar energy system | 10 or 25 years | |||||||||||
Sunnova +SunSafe® Add-on Battery Service | Loan | Easy Own PlanTM equipment purchase | Sale of energy storage system to be used with a solar energy system | 10 or 15 years | ||||||||||
| Sunnova Protect Service | Service Plan | Sunnova Protect Service | Monitoring and warranty services for non-Sunnova solar energy systems | 1, 5, 10 or 20 years | ||||||||||
| Roof Replacement | Loan | Easy Own PlanTM equipment purchase | Roof replacement (partial or full) when combined with either a Home Solar Service or Sunnova SunSafe offering | 10 or 25 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, 2020, our customers had, at the time of signing the solar service agreement, an average FICO® score of 740. 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, 2020, approximately 1.0% 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, 2020, approximately 64% of our lease agreements and PPAs contained a price escalator, ranging from 0.9% to 3.0% annually.
Our home 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 Plan equipment lease, 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 with variable monthly payments or balanced monthly payments. We own, operate and maintain the solar energy system under our PPAs.
•Easy Plan PPA with variable billing. The customer agrees to pay for all power generated by a solar energy system at a price per kWh that is generally lower than the local utility rate. The monthly payment will vary month to month based on the system's actual production. The monthly rate is generally subject to annual escalation.
•Easy Plan PPA with balanced billing. This is similar to the variable billing option 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 energy 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 production estimate exceed actual
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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 Plan equipment purchase 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 term of 10 or 25 years. We purchase the Easy Own Plan equipment purchase 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 Plan equipment purchase 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 Plan equipment purchase 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. The customer can either choose an Easy Plan equipment lease or Easy Own Plan equipment purchase plan. These are similar to our Easy Plan equipment lease and Easy Own Plan equipment purchase for home solar services but include energy storage systems with the solar energy system. The customer may select a term of 10 or 25 years for the Easy Own Plan equipment purchase. These agreements have a production guarantee, similar to the home solar service Easy Plan equipment lease and Easy Own Plan equipment purchase plans, 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.
•Sunnova Protect Services. For solar energy systems not owned or sold by us, our Sunnova Protect Services 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 Services agreement.
•Roof Replacement. Our roof replacement program offers customers the option to bundle financing for a new roof (partial or full) with a new home solar service or Sunnova SunSafe Solar + Battery Storage Service agreement.
As of December 31, 2020, approximately 31% of our customers had lease agreements, approximately 51% had PPAs, and approximately 17% had loan agreements. Less than 1% of our customers had service plan agreements or roof replacement 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, 2020, approximately 92% 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 4% are collected via automatic recurring credit card payments and approximately 4% 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.
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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 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 a 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 5 to 10 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 Plan PPAs with variable billing 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 Plan PPAs with balanced billing 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
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annualized basis so we insulate the customer from monthly fluctuations in production. However, our Easy Plan PPAs with balanced billing are subject to seasonality from a revenue perspective because, similar to the Easy Plan PPAs with variable billing, 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. 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 1.8 million metric tons of carbon emissions based on approximately 2.5 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
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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.
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 excess 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, which 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
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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 a net metering credit. This program was expected to be implemented in 2021 but has been delayed due to not enough utilities having deployed smart meters that would enable an accurate valuation of distributed energy production. New York is keeping net metering in place with a nominal customer benefit charge added for solar customers installing solar energy systems after January 1, 2022. 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. California has also initiated a proceeding to review its current net metering policies and adopt a successor program by the end of 2021. As a result of the Definitive Restructuring Support Agreement ("DRSA") between the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority ("PREPA") and its creditors submitted in May 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. Several legislators publicly oppose the DRSA and negotiations on the DRSA will continue in 2021.
In September 2020, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") issued Order 2222 directing regional transmission operators ("RTO") and independent system operators ("ISO") to remove barriers to the participation of distributed energy resources ("DERs") in wholesale electricity markets on an aggregated basis. While the FERC's order is subject to challenge as well as further proceedings concerning the implementation of the order's directives in each of the RTOs/ISOs, Order 2222 provides a framework that once implemented will allow for aggregated DERs to be compensated through the wholesale market for the capacity, energy and ancillary services they provide. In late 2020, Sunnova began offering its lease storage customers participation in the ConnectedSolutions demand response program through EverSource and National Grid utilities in Massachusetts. Sunnova expects to expand these offerings for its Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire customers in early 2021. Further, Sunnova will seek to participate in market specific opportunities and negotiate bilateral agreements where appropriate, to enroll systems and customers in energy management and demand response programs.
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 produced by one megawatt-hour of energy generated by 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 FERC issued Order 841 directing RTOs and ISOs 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. An appeal of Order 841 filed by utility trade associations and other parties challenging the extent of the FERC's jurisdiction over storage resources connected to distribution systems was rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in July 2020.
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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 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.
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"). In December 2020, the U.S. enacted the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020 (the "TCDTR Act") featuring significant tax provisions, including certain extensions and modifications of the Section 48(a) ITC and the Section 25D Credit. Starting January 1, 2020, the Section 48(a) ITC allows taxpayers to claim a federal tax credit equal to 30% of the basis of eligible solar property that began construction before 2020 if placed in service before 2026. Under the TCDTR, the Section 48(a) ITC percentage decreases to 26% for eligible solar property that begins construction during 2020, 2021 or 2022, 22% for 2023 and 10% if construction begins after 2023 or if the property is placed into service after 2025. IRS guidance as to when construction is considered to begin for such purposes includes 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 solar energy system before the end of the applicable year (the "5% ITC Safe Harbor"), even though the solar energy system is not placed in service until after the end of that year. 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.
Until 2023, 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, under the TCDTR, is scheduled to be reduced to 22% for solar energy systems placed in service during 2023. The Section 25D Credit is scheduled to expire under the TCDTR effective January 1, 2024. 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, where applicable), 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 Sunrun Inc. and Sunlight Financial LLC. In addition, we compete with other solar companies who sell or finance products directly to consumers, inclusive of programs like Property-Assessed Clean Energy, such as Loanpal, LLC and Mosaic, Inc. 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
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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 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 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.
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 U.S., 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, 2020, Hanwha Q-Cells and Longi Solar supplied approximately 49% and 20%, 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, 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. For the year ended December 31, 2020, Enphase Energy, Inc. and SolarEdge Technologies Inc. accounted for approximately 73% and 27%, respectively, of the inverters used in our solar energy system installations. 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. For the year ended December 31, 2020, Tesla, Inc. and Enphase Energy, Inc. accounted for approximately 82% and 18%, respectively, of our energy storage system purchases. For the year ended December 31, 2019, Tesla, Inc. accounted for 100% of our energy storage
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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.
Human Capital Management
Our core company values are service, synergy and sustainability. Our core value of service reflects our belief in providing a better energy service to the communities we serve. Our core value of sustainability reflects our belief we do well by doing good. Our core value of synergy reflects our belief we can achieve more by working together. We are focused on collectively advancing Sunnova and the energy industry through collaboration, integrity, respect and long-term trusted relationships, which includes our relationship with our employees.
Oversight and Management
We recognize the diversity of our customers, employees and communities, and believe in creating an inclusive and equitable environment that represents a broad spectrum of backgrounds and cultures. Working under these principles, our human resources department is tasked with managing employment-related matters, including recruiting and hiring, onboarding and training, retention, employee relations, compensation and benefits planning, performance management and professional development. Our Board of Directors ("Board") and Board committees provide oversight on certain human capital matters, including our inclusion and diversity programs and initiatives. Our management team regularly reports to the Board regarding programs and initiatives, including compensation, healthcare and other benefits, turnover and retention, as well as our management development and succession planning practices and strategies. Our audit committee works closely with our enterprise risk management function to monitor current and emerging labor and human capital management risks and to mitigate exposure to those risks. Our nominating and corporate governance committee has oversight of our environmental, social and corporate governance practices and procedures and regularly evaluates the effectiveness of our social responsibility policies, goals and programs, which also include employee-related issues. Our compensation committee has oversight of the development, implementation and effectiveness of all pay and benefit programs, as well as succession planning. These reports and recommendations to the Board and its committees and their oversight are part of the broader framework that guides how Sunnova attracts, retains and develops a workforce that aligns with our values and strategies.
We regularly conduct anonymous surveys to seek feedback from our employees on a variety of topics, including but not limited to, confidence in company leadership, competitiveness of our compensation and benefits package, career growth opportunities and improvements on how we could make our company an employer of choice. The results are shared with our employees and reviewed by senior leadership, who analyze areas of progress or deterioration and prioritize actions and activities in response to this feedback to drive meaningful improvements in employee engagement. Our management and cross-functional teams also work closely to evaluate human capital management issues, such as retention, harassment and bullying and safety, as well as to implement measures to mitigate these risks. Our CEO regularly holds townhalls with employees to discuss operating results, announce important initiatives (for example, our recent adoption of a diversity day) and respond to employee questions. Employees are also encouraged to report compliance and ethics issues through our anonymous hotline if they feel uncomfortable speaking directly to their supervisor or management.
Comprehensive Benefits
We believe in investing in our workforce by offering competitive salaries and wages. We also offer comprehensive and competitive benefits to protect the health, wellbeing and financial security of our employees. To foster a stronger sense of ownership and align the interests of employees with our stockholders, eligible non-executive employees are able to participate in our broad-based stock incentive program.
Training and Support
To help our employees succeed in their roles, we emphasize continuous training and development opportunities. These opportunities are offered through e-learning, online/classroom training, online performance management and goal setting, one-on-one coaching, individual development planning and group training initiatives.
Safety
We take our responsibility to ensure the health and safety of our employees very seriously. Our objective is for all employees and contractors to be free of work-related injuries, which are costly and often preventable. It is our goal every person goes home each day free from accidents and injuries. To that end, we have developed a detailed safety program that includes,
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but is not limited to, working at heights and roof safety protocols, motor vehicle safe driving operations, electric shock mitigation procedures and pre-storm weather hazard monitoring in the areas in which we operate.
With respect to the COVID-19 pandemic and as a designated essential service, we have adopted safety guidelines and practices that have enabled us to maintain business continuity and keep our employees safe. These practices have included retaining the services and assistance of a reputable health, safety and security advisory consulting firm, ongoing safety and health training for existing and new employees, remote working, adjusted attendance policies, health screening of employees for reported exposure or symptoms, enforcing mandatory periods of self-isolation, contact tracing, provisions for mask wearing, modifications to the in-office work environment, social distancing, increased sanitation stations and increased cleaning of offices and workstations. Please refer to "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Company Overview—Recent Developments" for additional information regarding our response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Employee Base
As of December 31, 2020, we had 394 full-time employees and 398 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, inventory, vehicles, fixed assets, facilities, cyber risk, crime and general liability deriving from our activities. Our insurance policies also cover directors, officers, employment practices and fiduciary liabilities. We may also be covered for certain liabilities by insurance policies owned by 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 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.
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.
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Risks Related to Our Business
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to be a rapidly evolving situation. The COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to respond to it have resulted in and may continue to result in widespread adverse impacts on the global economy. We have experienced some resulting disruptions to our business operations as the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to spread through the states and U.S. territories in which we operate. For example, social distancing guidelines, stay-at-home orders and similar government measures associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as actions by individuals to reduce their potential exposure to the virus, contributed to a decline in origination, with new contract origination, net of cancelations, declining in each of March and April 2020 from the previous month. This decline reflected an inability by our dealers to perform in-person sales calls based on the stay-at-home orders in some locations.
We and our dealers modified certain business and workforce practices (including those related to new contract origination, installation and servicing of solar energy systems and employee work locations) to conform to government restrictions and best practices encouraged by governmental and regulatory authorities. As a result, new contract origination, net of cancelations, increased in May through November 2020, with each of the months from June 2020 to November 2020 exceeding the number of new contracts originated, net of cancelations, in February 2020. Such modifications have allowed our dealers to continue to install and us to continue to service solar energy systems, but may also disrupt our operations, impede productivity or otherwise be ineffective in the future. If there are additional outbreaks of the COVID-19 virus or other viruses or more stringent health and safety guidelines are adopted, our and our dealers' ability to continue performing installations and service calls may be adversely impacted. A significant or extended decline in new contract origination may have a material adverse effect on our business, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition and results of operations.
Our future success also depends on our ability to raise capital from third-party investors and commercial sources. In the initial weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw access to capital markets reduced generally. By June 2020, the terms of and access to capital had improved significantly and by the fourth quarter of 2020, capital market conditions had reached levels comparable to those prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, if we are unable to continue accessing the capital markets or are unable to raise funds through our tax equity and warehouse financing transactions at competitive terms, it would adversely impact our ability to finance the deployment of our solar energy systems and energy storage systems and may have a material adverse effect on our business, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition and results of operations.
There is considerable uncertainty regarding the extent and duration of governmental and other measures implemented to try to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus, such as large-scale travel bans and restrictions, border closures, quarantines, shelter-in-place orders and business and government shutdowns. Some states that had begun taking steps to reopen their economies experienced a subsequent surge in cases of COVID-19, causing these states to cease such reopening measures in some cases and reinstitute restrictions in others. Restrictions of this nature have caused, and may continue to cause, us and our dealers to experience operational delays and may cause milestones or deadlines relating to our exclusivity arrangements to be missed. To date, we have not received notices from our dealers regarding performance delays resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic; however, we have seen delays in most jurisdictions from whom we must receive permission to operate for our solar energy systems to be placed in service. Worsening economic conditions could result in less favorable outcomes over time, which would impact our future financial performance. Further, the effects of the economic downturn associated with the COVID-19 pandemic may increase unemployment and reduce consumer credit ratings and credit availability, which may adversely affect new customer origination and our existing customers' ability to make payments on their solar service agreements. Periods of high unemployment and a lack of availability of credit may lead to increased delinquency and default rates. If existing economic conditions continue for a prolonged period of time or worsen, delinquencies on solar service agreements could increase, which would also negatively impact our future financial performance and the price of our common stock. Finally, if supply chains become significantly disrupted due to additional outbreaks of the COVID-19 virus or other viruses or more stringent health and safety guidelines are implemented, our ability to install and service solar energy systems could become adversely impacted.
We cannot predict the full impact the COVID-19 pandemic or the significant disruption and volatility currently being experienced in the capital markets will have on our business, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition and results of operations at this time due to numerous uncertainties. The ultimate impact will depend on future developments, including, among other things, the ultimate duration of the COVID-19 virus, the distribution, acceptance and efficacy of the vaccine, the depth and duration of the economic downturn and other economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the consequences of governmental and other measures designed to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, actions taken by governmental authorities, customers, dealers and other third parties, our ability and the ability of our customers, potential customers and dealers to adapt to operating in a changed environment and the timing and extent to which normal economic and operating conditions resume.
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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 $35.8 million, $22.3 million and $13.7 million and net losses of $307.8 million, $133.4 million and $68.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, 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.
If our allowance for credit losses is not enough to cover actual credit losses from our customer notes receivable portfolio, our results of operations and financial condition could be negatively affected.
We maintain an allowance for credit losses, which is a reserve that represents our best estimate of actual credit losses we may experience in our existing customer notes receivable portfolio. The level of the allowance reflects our continuing evaluation of factors including the financial asset type, customer credit rating, contractual term, vintage, volume and trends in delinquencies, nonaccruals, write-offs and present economic, political and regulatory conditions. The determination of the appropriate level of the allowance for credit losses inherently involves subjectivity in our modeling and requires us to make estimates of current credit risks and future trends, all of which may undergo material changes or vary from our historical experience. Deterioration in economic conditions affecting our customers, new information regarding existing loans and other factors, both within and outside of our control, may require an increase in the allowance for credit losses. Furthermore, if write-offs in future periods exceed the allowance for credit losses we will need to increase the allowance for credit losses in future periods. Any increases in the allowance for credit losses will result in an increase in net loss and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We adopted Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments—Credit Losses, in January 2020, which requires entities to use a forward-looking expected loss approach, referred to as the current expected credit loss ("CECL") methodology in place of the previously-used incurred loss model. This resulted in an increase to the allowance for credit losses of $9.9 million. In future periods, CECL may result in increased reserves during or in advance of an economic downturn. If we are required to materially increase our level of allowance for credit losses for any reason, such increase could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Certain of our key operational metrics, including estimated gross contracted customer value, are based on various assumptions and estimates we make that cover 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 that cover 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 10, 15 or 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.
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Furthermore, in calculating estimated gross contracted customer value, we discount our future net cash flows at 6% based on industry practice and at 4%, which is based in part on 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 and the related discount rate and such sensitivities, 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;
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• 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 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
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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.
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.
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, 2020, 2019 and 2018, Trinity accounted for approximately 28%, 41% and 52% of our net 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, either in response to the COVID-19 pandemic or otherwise, 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.
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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, 2020, we have raised more than $6.7 billion in total capital commitments from equity, debt and tax equity investors.
Our future success depends in part 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 could 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 in 2023. Additionally, we may be unable to identify investors interested in engaging in this type of financing with us. As of December 31, 2020, we have formed eleven tax equity vehicles to which investors such as banks and other large financial investors have committed to invest approximately $789.5 million. The undrawn committed capital for these tax equity vehicles as of December 31, 2020 is approximately $135.8 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".
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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, 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 that 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, in all but one of our current funds 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 seven 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 equipment 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. However, the period of ultimate payment would be determined based on the amount and timing of collections received and, in limited circumstances, early amortization may be cured prior to full
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repayment. 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 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, 2020, our total indebtedness was approximately $2.0 billion and the available borrowing capacity under our credit facilities was $402.4 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 securitizations are structured in that cash flows generated by the pool of solar energy systems, energy storage systems and related solar service agreements are initially used to repay outstanding principal amounts based on the priority of payments in the agreement. However, should these cash flows decrease below applicable thresholds, all excess cash flows from such asset pool must be applied to pay down the related indebtedness, which would reduce the cash available to otherwise fund our business. 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, 2020, the average FICO® score of our customers was 740 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, 2020, approximately 1.0% 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
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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;
• 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 in part 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.
In July 2017, the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates LIBOR, announced that it intends to phase out LIBOR by the end of 2021. In November 2020, ICE Benchmark Administration, the administrator of LIBOR, with the support of the United States Federal Reserve and the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority, announced plans to consult on ceasing publication of USD LIBOR on December 31, 2021 for only the one week and two month USD LIBOR tenors, and on June 30, 2023 for all other USD LIBOR tenors. While this announcement extends the transition period to June 2023, the United States Federal Reserve concurrently issued a statement advising banks to stop new USD LIBOR issuances by the end of 2021. In light of these recent announcements, the future of LIBOR at this time is uncertain and any changes in the methods by which LIBOR is determined or regulatory activity related to LIBOR's phaseout could cause LIBOR to perform
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differently than in the past or cease to exist. 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 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 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. We may also compete based on other value-added benefits, such as reliability and carbon-friendly power. 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.
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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. Larger competitors may also be able to access financing at a lower cost of capital than we are able to obtain.
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 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.
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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.
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 10, 15 or 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, 2020, Hanwha Q-Cells and Longi Solar supplied approximately 49% and 20%, 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, 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. For the year ended December 31, 2020, Enphase Energy, Inc. and SolarEdge Technologies Inc. accounted for approximately 73% and 27%, respectively, of the inverters used in our solar energy system installations. 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. For the year ended December 31, 2020, Tesla, Inc. and Enphase Energy, Inc. accounted for approximately 82% and 18%, respectively, of our energy storage system purchases. For the year ended December 31, 2019, Tesla, Inc.
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accounted for 100% 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.
Our supply chain and operations (or those of our dealers) could be subject to natural disasters and other events beyond our control, such as earthquakes, wildfires, flooding, hurricanes, tsunamis, typhoons, volcanic eruptions, droughts, tornadoes, power outages or other natural disasters, the effects of climate change and related extreme weather, public health issues and pandemics, war, terrorism, government restrictions or limitations on trade, and geo-political unrest and uncertainties. Human rights and forced labor issues in foreign countries and the U.S. government's response to them could disrupt our supply chain and our operations could be adversely impacted. For example, proposed legislation in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate seeks to ban the import of all goods from China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, a major producer of polysilicon used by manufacturers of solar panels, over allegations of widespread, state-backed forced labor in the region. Additionally, 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 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.
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In addition, in January 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 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 10, 15 or 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 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
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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, terms 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;
•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, 2020, 24%, 15% and 12% were placed into service in 2020, 2019 and 2018, 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,
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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".
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
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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 10, 15 or 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 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.
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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 in September 2017, a series of earthquakes that 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.
Puerto Rico is a significant market for our business, representing 15% and 12% of our solar energy systems as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively, and has suffered from significant economic difficulties in recent years. As a result of the continued weakness of the Puerto Rico economy, liquidity constraints and a lack of market access, the credit ratings of the Puerto Rico government's general obligation bonds and guaranteed bonds, as well as the ratings of most of the Puerto Rico public corporations, including PREPA, are non-investment grade by Moody's, S&P and Fitch Ratings.
Puerto Rico has also enacted certain measures that could increase the cost of solar energy systems. In 2015, the Puerto Rico government increased the sales and use tax from 7% to 11.5%. Although leases are currently exempt from such sales and use tax pursuant to Act No. 83-2010, the increase in sales tax is applicable to repair and maintenance services. Additionally, in October 2015, Puerto Rico enacted a 4% sales tax to previously exempt business-to-business transactions. Should our current exemption expire or additional taxes be imposed, the tax increase may impose greater costs on our future and current customers, which may hinder our future origination efforts and adversely impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and future growth. Future changes in Puerto Rico tax law could affect our tax position and adversely impact our business.
Although Puerto Rico had already suffered from economic difficulties in recent years, Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, catastrophic weather events whose effects have been long enduring, earthquakes in the southwest of the island beginning in 2019 and continuing through 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic have caused significant additional disruption to the island's electric grid and economic activity. The continued weakness of the Puerto Rico economy has strained the fiscal health of the government, which may create uncertainty that may adversely impact us. Furthermore, the future financial condition and prospects of PREPA are uncertain, which could negatively impact the availability and the reliability of Puerto Rico's electrical grid and adversely impact our operations on the island.
In 2018, the government of Puerto Rico enacted legislation that set in motion the privatization of PREPA. Said legislation governs the establishment of public-private partnerships ("P3") with respect to the concession for the distribution and transmission assets, services and facilities of PREPA, including its generation assets. In the summer of 2020, the government of Puerto Rico signed a 15-year P3 agreement with LUMA Energy, LLC to operate, maintain and modernize PREPA's electric transmission and distribution system. Moreover, in November 2020, the government announced that several companies had been qualified as part of the procurement process related to the Request for Qualifications for the management and operation of PREPA's legacy generation assets. The Request for Proposals is currently underway but the awardee has not been announced.
Legislation enacted in April 2019 requires a study of net metering to be completed within five years, which may result in revisions to the existing rules. However, no changes can be made to retail net metering for five years after the date the legislation was enacted. Meanwhile, "true" net metering will continue to apply, meaning the credit for energy exported by net metering clients will equal the value of such energy under the rate applicable to those clients and accordingly, their charges will be based on their net consumption. Customers subject to this regime would be grandfathered for a period of 20 years from the date of their net metering agreements.
Net metering customers in Puerto Rico may be impacted by transition charges and other requirements contemplated in a restructuring agreement between PREPA and its creditors, currently pending before the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico in bankruptcy-like proceedings under Title III of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act ("PROMESA"). PROMESA provides PREPA with access to a workout process similar to bankruptcy. In response to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the approval of the restructuring agreement has been stayed, and the government announced in December 2020 that it continues to conduct diligence to determine whether, among other things, the terms of the restructuring agreement should be renegotiated and the parameters for doing so.
While we do not currently contract directly with the Puerto Rico government or PREPA, continued weakness in the Puerto Rico economy or the failure of the Puerto Rico government to manage its fiscal challenges in an orderly manner could result in policy decisions we do not anticipate and may directly or indirectly adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, it is unclear whether the selection of private concessionaires for PREPA's transmission and distribution system and legacy generation assets may have an impact on our business.
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The Puerto Rico Energy Bureau has instituted administrative proceedings regarding customer complaints about our Puerto Rican operations, the operations of some of our dealers in Puerto Rico and certain Sunnova policies and procedures relating to contract disclosures and invoice disputes in Puerto Rico. At this time, we are unable to determine whether the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau will seek penalties against us in the future in connection with these proceedings or require a change in our practices and procedures. Based on this matter, the U.S. Better Business Bureau listed Sunnova as not accredited. We have not experienced a material impact as a result of the listing.
Our business is concentrated in certain markets, putting us at risk of region-specific disruptions.
As of December 31, 2020, approximately 22%, 24% and 15% of our solar energy systems were located in New Jersey, California and Puerto Rico, respectively. In addition, we expect much of our near-term future growth to occur in these same markets, further concentrating our customer base and operational infrastructure. Accordingly, our business and results of operations are particularly susceptible to adverse economic, regulatory, political, weather and other conditions in such markets and in other markets that may become similarly concentrated. See "—We are not able to insure against all potential risks and we may become subject to higher insurance premiums" and "—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 in September 2017, a series of earthquakes that 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". Any of these conditions, even if only in one such market, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, all of our current solar energy systems are located in the U.S. and its territories, which makes us particularly susceptible to adverse changes in U.S. tax laws. See "—Risks Related to Taxation—Recent tax legislation and future changes in law could adversely affect our business".
Dealer and marketplace confidence in our liquidity and long-term business prospects is important for building and maintaining our business.
Our financial condition, operating results and business prospects may suffer materially if we are unable to establish and maintain confidence about our liquidity and business prospects among dealers, consumers and within our industry. Our dealer network is an integral component of our business strategy and serves as the means by which we are able to rapidly and successfully expand within existing and prospective markets. Dealers and other third parties will be less likely to enter into dealer agreements with us or originate new solar service agreements if they are uncertain we will be able to make payments on time, our business will succeed or our operations will continue for many years.
Our solar energy systems and energy storage systems require ongoing maintenance and support. If we were to reduce operations, even years from now, buyers of our solar energy systems and energy storage systems from years earlier might have difficulty having us provide or arrange repairs or other services to our and their solar energy systems and energy storage systems, which remain our responsibility under the terms of our solar service agreements. As a result, consumers may be less likely to enter into solar service agreements with us if they are uncertain our business will succeed or our operations will continue for many years.
Accordingly, in order to build and maintain our business, we must maintain confidence among dealers, customers and other parties in our liquidity and long-term business prospects. We may not succeed in our efforts to build this confidence.
Damage to our brand and reputation or change or loss of use of our brand could harm our business and results of operations.
We depend significantly on our reputation for high-quality products, excellent customer service and the brand name "Sunnova" to attract new customers and grow our business. If we fail to continue to deliver our solar energy systems or energy storage systems within the planned timelines, if our offerings do not perform as anticipated or if we damage any of our customers' properties or delay or cancel projects, our brand and reputation could be significantly impaired. Future technological improvements may allow us to offer lower prices or offer new technology to new customers; however, technical limitations in our current solar energy systems and energy storage systems may prevent us from offering such lower prices or new technology to our existing customers. The inability of our current customers to benefit from technological improvements could cause our existing customers to lower the value they perceive our existing products offer and impair our brand and reputation.
In addition, given the sheer number of interactions our personnel or dealers operating on our behalf have with customers and potential customers, it is inevitable that some customers' and potential customers' interactions with our company or dealers operating on our behalf will be perceived as less than satisfactory. This has led to instances of customer complaints, some of
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which have affected our digital footprint on rating websites and social media platforms. If we cannot manage our hiring and training processes to avoid or minimize these issues to the extent possible, our reputation may be harmed and our ability to attract new customers would suffer.
In addition, if we were to no longer use, lose the right to continue to use or if others use the "Sunnova" brand, we could lose recognition in the marketplace among customers, suppliers and dealers, which could affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and would require financial and other investment and management attention in new branding, which may not be as successful.
The installation and operation of solar energy systems and energy storage systems depends heavily on suitable solar and meteorological conditions. If meteorological conditions are unexpectedly unfavorable, the electricity production from our solar energy systems may be substantially below our expectations and our ability to timely deploy new solar energy systems and energy storage systems may be adversely impacted.
The energy produced and the revenue and cash receipts generated by a solar energy system depend on suitable solar, atmospheric and weather conditions, all of which are beyond our control. Our economic model and projected returns on our solar energy systems require achievement of certain production results from our systems and, in some cases, we guarantee these results to our consumers. If the solar energy systems underperform for any reason, our business could suffer. For example, the amount of revenue we recognize in a given period from our PPAs and the amount of our obligations under the performance guarantees of our solar service agreements are dependent in part on the amount of energy generated by solar energy systems under such solar service agreements. As a result, revenue derived from our standard PPAs is impacted by seasonally shorter daylight hours in winter months. In addition, the ability of our dealers to install solar energy systems and energy storage systems is impacted by weather. For example, the ability to install solar energy systems and energy storage systems during the winter months in the Northeastern U.S. is limited. Such solar, atmospheric and weather conditions can delay the timing of when solar energy systems and energy storage systems can be installed and when we can originate and begin to generate revenue from solar energy systems. This may increase our expenses and decrease revenue and cash receipts in the relevant periods. Furthermore, prevailing weather patterns could materially change in the future, making it harder to predict the average annual amount of sunlight striking each location where we install a solar energy system and energy storage system. This could make our solar energy systems less economical overall or make individual solar energy systems less economical. Any of these events or conditions could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The loss of one or more members of our senior management or key employees may adversely affect our ability to implement our strategy.
We depend on our experienced management team and the loss of one or more key executives could have a negative impact on our business. In particular, we are dependent on the services of our founder and CEO, William J. Berger. We also depend on our ability to retain and motivate key employees and attract qualified new employees. None of our key executives are bound by employment agreements for any specific term. We may be unable to replace key members of our management team and key employees if we lose their services. Integrating new employees into our team could prove disruptive to our operations, require substantial resources and management attention and ultimately prove unsuccessful. An inability to attract and retain sufficient managerial personnel who have critical industry experience and relationships could limit or delay our strategic efforts, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The requirements of being a public company may strain our resources, divert management's attention and affect our ability to attract and retain qualified board members and officers.
As a public company, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the listing requirements of the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") and other applicable securities rules and regulations. Complying with these rules and regulations has increased and will continue to increase our legal and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time-consuming or costly and increase demand on our systems and resources. The Exchange Act requires, among other things, that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with respect to our business and operating results and maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. To maintain and, if required, improve our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting to meet this standard, significant resources and management oversight may be required. As a result, management's attention may be diverted from other business concerns that could harm our business and operating results. Although we have already hired additional employees to comply with these requirements, we may need to hire more employees in the future that will increase our costs and expenses.
As a public company, our director and officer liability insurance expense increased significantly and we may be required to accept reduced coverage or incur substantially higher costs to maintain coverage. These factors could also make it more
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difficult for us to attract and retain qualified executive officers and members of our Board, particularly to serve on our audit committee.
Our inability to protect our intellectual property could adversely affect our business. We may also be subject to intellectual property rights claims by third parties, which are extremely costly to defend, could require us to pay significant damages and could limit our ability to use certain technologies.
Any failure to protect our proprietary rights adequately could result in our competitors offering similar residential solar technology or energy storage services more quickly than anticipated, potentially resulting in the loss of some of our competitive advantage and a decrease in our revenue that would adversely affect our business prospects, financial condition and operating results. Our success depends, at least in part, on our ability to protect our core technology and 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 and brand. We cannot be certain our agreements and other contractual provisions will not be breached, including a breach involving the use or disclosure of our trade secrets or know-how, or that adequate remedies will be available in the event of any breach. In addition, our trade secrets may otherwise become known or lose trade secret protection.
We cannot be certain our products and our business do not or will not violate the intellectual property rights of a third party. Third parties, including our competitors, may own patents or other intellectual property rights that cover aspects of our technology or business methods. Such parties may claim we have misappropriated, misused, violated or infringed third-party intellectual property rights and if we gain greater recognition in the market, we face a higher risk of being the subject of claims we have violated others' intellectual property rights. Any claim we violated a third party's intellectual property rights, whether with or without merit, could be time-consuming, expensive to settle or litigate and could divert our management's attention and other resources, all of which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. If we do not successfully settle or defend an intellectual property claim, we could be liable for significant monetary damages and could be prohibited from continuing to use certain technology, business methods, content or brands. To avoid a prohibition, we could seek a license from third parties, which could require us to pay significant royalties, increasing our operating expenses. If a license is not available at all or not available on commercially reasonable terms, we may be required to develop or license a non-violating alternative, either of which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
We currently use or plan to use software that is licensed under "open source", "free" or other similar licenses that may subject us to liability or require us to release the source code of our proprietary software to the public.
We currently use open source software that is licensed under "open source", "free" or other similar licenses. Open source software is made available to the general public on an "as-is" basis under the terms of a non-negotiable license. If we fail to comply with these licenses, we may be subject to certain conditions, including requirements that we offer our services that incorporate the open source software for no cost, we make available source code for modifications or derivative works we create based upon incorporating or using the open source software and we license such modifications or alterations under the terms of the particular open source license. We do not plan to integrate our proprietary software with this open source software in ways that would require the release of the source code of our proprietary software to the public. However, our use and distribution of open source software may entail greater risks than use of third-party commercial software. Our authorized developers may contribute to this open source software community but they will be prohibited from providing any proprietary process or proprietarily developed source code of ours. Open source licensors generally do not provide warranties or other contractual protections regarding infringement claims or the quality of the code. In addition, if we combine our proprietary software with open source software in a certain manner, we could, under certain open source licenses, be required to release the source code of our proprietary software to the public. This would allow our competitors to create similar offerings with lower development effort and time. We may also face claims alleging noncompliance with open source license terms or infringement or misappropriation of proprietary software.
These claims could result in litigation, require us to purchase a costly license or require us to devote additional research and development resources to change our software, any of which would have a negative effect on our business and operating results. In addition, if the license terms for open source software that we use change, we may be forced to re-engineer our technology platform or incur additional costs.
Although we monitor our use of open source software to avoid subjecting our technology platform to unintended conditions, few courts have interpreted open source licenses and there is a risk these licenses could be construed in a way that could impose unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our business. We cannot guarantee we have incorporated open source
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software in our software in a manner that will not subject us to liability or in a manner consistent with our current policies and procedures.
We may be subject to interruptions or failures in our information technology systems.
We rely on information technology systems and infrastructure to support our business. Any of these systems may be susceptible to damage or interruption due to fire, floods, power loss, telecommunication failures, usage errors by employees, computer viruses, cyberattacks or other security breaches or similar events. A compromise of our information technology systems or those with which we interact could harm our reputation and expose us to regulatory actions and claims from customers and other persons, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations. If our information systems are damaged, fail to work properly or otherwise become unavailable, we may incur substantial costs to repair or replace them and we may experience a loss of critical information, customer disruption and interruptions or delays in our ability to perform essential functions.
Disruptions to our solar monitoring systems could negatively impact our revenues and increase our expenses.
Our ability to accurately charge our customers for the energy produced by our solar energy systems primarily depends on the cellular connection for the related monitoring system, which we are responsible for maintaining in a functional state so that we may receive data regarding the solar energy systems' production from their residences. We could incur significant expenses or disruptions of our operations in connection with failures of our solar monitoring systems, including failures of such connections, that would prevent us from accurately monitoring solar energy production. In addition, sophisticated hardware and operating system software and applications we procure from third parties may contain defects in design or manufacture, including "bugs" and other problems that could unexpectedly interfere with the operation of our solar energy systems or energy storage systems. The costs to us to eliminate or alleviate viruses and bugs, or any problems associated with failures of our cellular connections could be significant. We have in the past experienced periods where some of our cellular connections have been unavailable and, as a result, we have been forced to estimate the production of their solar energy systems. Such estimates may prove inaccurate and could cause us to underestimate the power being generated by our solar energy systems and undercharge our customers, thereby harming our results of operations.
Any unauthorized access to or disclosure or theft of personal information we gather, store or use could harm our reputation and subject us to claims or litigation.
We receive, store and use personal information of our customers, including names, addresses, e-mail addresses, credit information, credit card and financial account information and other housing and energy use information. We also store information of our dealers, including employee, financial and operational information. We rely on the availability of data collected from our customers and our dealers in order to manage our business and market our offerings. We take certain steps in an effort to protect the security, integrity and confidentiality of the personal information we collect, store or transmit, but there is no guarantee inadvertent or unauthorized use or disclosure will not occur or third parties will not gain unauthorized access to this information despite our efforts. We also rely on third-party suppliers or vendors to host certain of the systems we use. Although we take precautions to provide for disaster recovery, our ability to recover systems or data may be expensive and may interfere with our normal operations. Also, although we obtain assurances from such third parties they will use reasonable safeguards to secure their systems, we may be adversely affected by unavailability of their systems or unauthorized use or disclosure or our data maintained in such systems. Because techniques used to obtain unauthorized access or sabotage systems change frequently and generally are not identified until they are launched against a target, we, our suppliers or vendors and our dealers may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative or mitigation measures.
Cyberattacks in particular are becoming more sophisticated and include, but are not limited to, malicious software, attempts to gain unauthorized access to data and other electronic security breaches that could lead to disruptions in critical systems, disruption of our customers' operations, loss or damage to our data delivery systems, unauthorized release of confidential or otherwise protected information, corruption of data and increased costs to prevent, respond to or mitigate cybersecurity events. In addition, certain cyber incidents, such as advanced persistent threats, may remain undetected for an extended period.
Unauthorized use, disclosure of or access to any personal information maintained by us or on our behalf, whether through breach of our systems, breach of the systems of our suppliers, vendors or dealers by an unauthorized party or through employee or contractor error, theft or misuse or otherwise, could harm our business. If any such unauthorized use, disclosure of or access to such personal information were to occur, our operations could be seriously disrupted and we could be subject to demands, claims and litigation by private parties and investigations, related actions and penalties by regulatory authorities.
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In addition, we could incur significant costs in notifying affected persons and entities and otherwise complying with the multitude of federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to the unauthorized access to, use of or disclosure of personal information. Finally, any perceived or actual unauthorized access to, use of or disclosure of such information could harm our reputation, substantially impair our ability to expand our portfolio of solar service agreements and related solar energy systems and energy storage systems and have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. The COVID-19 pandemic generally is increasing the attack surface available to criminals, as more companies and individuals work remotely and otherwise work online. Consequently, the risk of a cybersecurity incident suffered by us or our vendors or service providers is increased, and our investment in risk mitigations against cybersecurity incidents is evolving as the threat landscape changes. While we currently maintain cybersecurity insurance, such insurance may not be sufficient to cover us against claims, and we cannot be certain that cyber insurance will continue to be available to us on economically reasonable terms, or at all, or that any insurer will not deny coverage as to any future claim.
Our business is subject to complex and evolving data protection laws. Many of these laws and regulations are subject to change and uncertain interpretation and could result in claims, increased cost of operations or otherwise harm our business.
Consumer personal privacy and data security have become significant issues and the subject of rapidly evolving regulation in the U.S. Furthermore, federal, state and local government bodies or agencies have in the past adopted, and may in the future adopt, more laws and regulations affecting data privacy. For example, the state of California enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 ("CCPA") and California voters recently approved the California Privacy Rights Act ("CPRA"). The CCPA creates individual privacy rights for consumers and places increased privacy and security obligations on entities handling the personal data of consumers or households. The CCPA went into effect on January 1, 2020 and it requires covered companies to provide new disclosures to California consumers, provides such consumers, business-to-business contacts and employees new ways to opt-out of certain sales of personal information, and allows for a new private right of action for data breaches. The CPRA modifies the CCPA and imposes additional data protection obligations on companies doing business in California, including additional consumer rights processes and opt outs for certain uses of sensitive data. While the CPRA will not take full effect until January 2023, it establishes a new California privacy regulator before that date. The CCPA and the CPRA may significantly impact our business activities and require substantial compliance costs that adversely affect our business, operating results, prospects and financial condition. To date, we have not experienced substantial compliance costs in connection with fulfilling the requirements under the CCPA or CPRA. However, we cannot be certain that compliance costs will not increase in the future with respect to the CCPA and CPRA or any other recently passed consumer privacy regulation.
Any inability to adequately address privacy and security concerns, even if unfounded, or comply with applicable privacy and data security laws, regulations and policies, could result in additional cost and liability to us, damage our reputation, inhibit sales and adversely affect our business. Furthermore, the costs of compliance with, and other burdens imposed by, the laws, regulations and policies that are applicable to our business may limit the use and adoption of, and reduce the overall demand for, our solutions. If we are not able to adjust to changing laws, regulations and standards related to privacy or security, our business may be harmed.
We may become involved in the future in legal proceedings that could adversely affect our business.
We may, from time to time, be involved in litigation and claims, such as those relating to employees, customers, our dealers or other third parties with whom we contract, including consumer claims and class action lawsuits. In the ordinary course of business, we have disputes with dealers and customers. In general, litigation claims or regulatory proceedings can be expensive and time consuming to bring or defend against, may result in the diversion of management attention and resources from our business and business goals and could result in injunctions or other equitable relief, settlements, penalties, fines or damages that could significantly affect our results of operations and the conduct of our business. It is impossible to predict with certainty whether any resulting liability would have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
We intend to expand our operations to include international activities, which will subject us to a number of risks.
Our long-term strategic plans include international expansion, including expansion into jurisdictions that have characteristics similar to those in which we currently operate. Risks inherent to international operations include the following:
• the inability to work successfully with dealers with local expertise to originate international solar service agreements;
• multiple, conflicting and changing laws and regulations, including export and import laws and regulations, economic sanctions laws and regulations, tax laws and regulations, environmental regulations, labor laws and other government requirements, approvals, permits and licenses;
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• laws and legal systems less developed or less predictable than those in the U.S.;
• changes in general economic and political conditions in the jurisdictions where we operate, including changes in government incentives relating to power generation and solar electricity;
• political and economic instability, including wars, acts of terrorism, political unrest, boycotts, curtailments of trade and other business restrictions;
• difficulties and costs in recruiting and retaining individuals skilled in international business operations;
• international business practices may conflict with U.S. customs or legal requirements, including anti‑bribery and corruption regulations;
• financial risks, such as longer sales and payment cycles and greater difficulty collecting accounts receivable or executing self-help remedies, if necessary;
• deficient or unreliable records relating to real property ownership;
• potentially lower margins due to a lower average income level;
• fluctuations in currency exchange rates relative to the U.S. dollar; and
• the inability to obtain, maintain or enforce intellectual property rights, including inability to apply for or register material trademarks in foreign countries, which could make it easier for competitors to capture increased market position.
Doing business in foreign markets requires us to be able to respond to rapid changes in market, legal and political conditions in these countries. The success of our business will depend, in part, on our ability to succeed in differing legal, regulatory, economic, social and political environments. We may not be able to develop and implement policies and strategies that will be effective in each location where we do business.
Our future operations may subject us to risks associated with currency fluctuations.
Our future international operations may subject us to risks relating to currency fluctuations. Foreign currencies periodically experience rapid and/or large fluctuations in value against the U.S. dollar. A weakened U.S. dollar could increase the cost of procurement of raw materials, by our suppliers, from foreign jurisdictions and operating expenses in foreign locations, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. Our planned international expansion further subjects us to currency risk.
Since the price at which we originate solar energy systems from our dealers is generated in U.S. dollars, we are mostly insulated from currency fluctuations. However, since suppliers of our dealers often incur a significant amount of their costs by purchasing raw materials and generating operating expenses in foreign currencies, if the value of the U.S. dollar depreciates significantly or for a prolonged period of time against these other currencies, this may cause those suppliers to raise the prices they charge us and our dealers, which in turn could harm our business and results of operations. Although the value of the U.S. dollar has been high relative to other currencies in recent periods, there is no guarantee this trend will continue.
Our actual financial results may differ materially from any guidance we may publish from time to time.
We may, from time to time, provide guidance regarding our future performance that represents our management's estimates as of the date such guidance is provided. Any such guidance would be based upon a number of assumptions with respect to future business decisions (some of which may change) and estimates, while presented with numerical specificity, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies (many of which are beyond our control). Guidance is necessarily speculative in nature and it can be expected some or all the assumptions that inform such guidance will not materialize or will vary significantly from actual results. Our ability to meet any forward-looking guidance is impacted by a number of factors including, but not limited to, the number of our solar energy systems sold versus leased, changes in installation costs, the availability of additional financing on acceptable terms, changes in the retail prices of traditional utility-generated electricity, the availability of rebates, tax credits and other incentives, changes in policies and regulations including net metering and interconnection limits or caps, the availability of solar panels, inverters, batteries and other raw materials, as well as the other risks to our business described in this "Risk Factors" section. Accordingly, our guidance is only an estimate of what management believes is realizable as of the date such guidance is provided. Actual results may vary from such guidance and the variations may be material. Investors should also recognize the reliability of any forecasted financial data diminishes the farther into the future the data is forecast. In light of the foregoing, investors should not place undue reliance on our financial guidance and should carefully consider any guidance we may publish in context.
Terrorist or cyberattacks against centralized utilities could adversely affect our business.
Assets owned by utilities such as substations and related infrastructure have been physically attacked in the past and will likely be attacked in the future. These facilities are often protected by limited security measures, such as perimeter fencing. Any
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such attacks may result in interruption to electricity flowing on the grid and consequently interrupt service to our solar energy systems not combined with an energy storage system, which could adversely affect our operations. Furthermore, cyberattacks, whether by individuals or nation states, against utility companies could severely disrupt their business operations and result in loss of service to customers, which would adversely affect our operations.
Risks Related to the Acquisition
We may not be successful in completing the Acquisition.
The consummation of the Acquisition is subject to certain conditions, including the receipt of regulatory approval under the Hart-Scott Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, which may or may not be obtained. If the conditions to the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement are not satisfied, or if the Merger Agreement is terminated prior to closing, the Acquisition will not be consummated. In addition, the Acquisition is subject to an outside termination date of September 1, 2021. If the Acquisition is not completed by the outside termination date, it will not be consummated except by mutual agreement of Sunnova and Lenx to extend the outside date.
We expect to incur significant transaction and acquisition-related costs in connection with the Acquisition.
We expect to incur significant costs associated with the Acquisition and combining our existing operations with those of SunStreet. The substantial majority of the expenses resulting from the Acquisition will be composed of transaction costs related to the Acquisition and business integration costs. Additional unanticipated costs may be incurred in the integration of the two businesses. Although we expect that the elimination of duplicative costs, as well as the realization of other efficiencies related to the integration of the businesses, should allow us to offset incremental transaction and acquisition-related costs over time, this net benefit may not be achieved in the near term, or at all.
The success of the Acquisition and our ability to derive our expected benefits from the Acquisition are subject to substantial risks.
The success of the proposed Acquisition and our ability to derive the expected benefits from the Acquisition involves potential risks, including, among other things:
•the validity of our assumptions and projections about the rate of solar adoption in new home construction and our ability to originate in such communities, revenues of the SunStreet business, anticipated capital expenditures and operating costs of SunStreet;
•our ability to successfully market and sell solar service agreements to existing Lennar Corporation customers;
•assumptions about achieving synergies with our existing business, including the solar service agreement origination process;
•the validity of our assessment of the ongoing maintenance and service requirements and costs of existing solar energy systems for which SunStreet continues to hold the ongoing service obligation;
•a failure to realize anticipated benefits, such as enhanced competitive position within the homebuilding space or new customer relationships through the exclusivity arrangements with Lennar Corporation; and
•the incurrence of other significant charges, such as impairment of goodwill or other intangible assets.
The success of the Acquisition will depend, in part, on our ability to realize the anticipated benefits from combining SunStreet and our business, including operational and other synergies that we believe the post-acquisition company will achieve. The anticipated benefits of the Acquisition may not be realized fully or at all, may take longer to realize than expected or could have other adverse effects that we do not currently foresee. Some of the assumptions we have made, such as the achievement of operating synergies, may not be realized.
The Acquisition is subject to substantial integration risks that could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Integration of SunStreet with our existing business will be a complex, time-consuming and costly process, and we may not be as successful as anticipated. The Acquisition involves numerous operational, strategic, financial, accounting, legal, tax and other risks. Difficulties in integrating SunStreet, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and our ability to manage SunStreet after the closing of the Acquisition, may result in our performing differently than expected, in operational challenges or in the delay or failure to realize anticipated expense-related efficiencies, and could have an adverse effect on our financial
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condition, results of operations or cash flows. Potential difficulties that may be encountered in the integration process include, among other things:
•the inability to successfully integrate SunStreet, operationally and culturally, in a manner that permits us to achieve the full anticipated origination benefits from the Acquisition;
•performance shortfalls as a result of integrating SunStreet's operations, which, if such shortfalls were to result in a loss of exclusivity arrangements with Lennar Corporation, would substantially reduce the benefits of the Acquisition to us;
•failure to obtain any necessary permits or licenses in connection with the operation of the SunStreet business;
•performance shortfalls due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related decline in demand for new home construction or solar energy services in new communities;
•complexities associated with managing a larger, more complex, integrated business, including the potential diversion of our management's attention;
•not realizing anticipated operating synergies;
•potential unknown liabilities and unforeseen expenses, delays or regulatory conditions associated with the Acquisition;
•integrating relationships with customers, dealers, homebuilders, vendors and business partners;
•the disruption of, or the loss of momentum in, each company's ongoing business or inconsistencies in standards, controls, procedures and policies;
•the maintenance of an effective system of internal controls and integrating internal controls, compliance under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and other regulatory compliance and corporate governance matters;
•difficulties integrating new technology systems for financial reporting;
•the inability to hire, train or retrain qualified personnel to manage and operate our growing business and assets; and
•an inability to complete other internal growth projects and/or acquisitions.
If we consummate the Acquisition and if any of these risks or unanticipated liabilities or costs were to materialize, then any desired benefits from the Acquisition may not be fully realized, if at all, and our future results of operations could be negatively impacted.