Homeowners Will See Long Wait for Rooftop Solar in California - Yahoo Finance

Homeowners Will See Long Wait for Rooftop Solar in California

(Bloomberg) -- Rooftop solar companies SunPower Corp. and Sunrun Inc. posted higher-than-expected sales in the first-quarter as homeowners in California rushed to install panels before a cut in a key state solar subsidy. Now, customers will have a months-long wait for new installations.

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SunPower is on track to add 90,000 to 110,000 new customers this year after a ramp up in marketing and sales efforts in California, Chief Executive Officer Peter Faricy said.

“That investment was worthwhile,” Faricy said in an interview, noting that the Sunpower now has a six—month backlog of customers in California. Bad weather in the state contributed to a delay in installations, Faricy said.

Sunrun is also facing an “enormous backlog” of customers, company executives said on an earnings call Wednesday.

Losses Posted

Both companies were able to book a rush of sales in the first quarter, but they also had to spend a lot of money signing up new California customers, which ate into profits.

SunPower fell 4.2% on Wednesday after it posted a wider-than expected loss of 7 cents a share, adjusted for certain items. Sunrun posted a $1.12 loss per share, compared with analyst estimates of a loss of 15 cents per share. Shares fell about 2.5% in after-market trading.

“There were a number of investments made in the first quarter to make sure we were in a good position to harvest that high volume coming in from a sales perspective,” Sunrun Chief Executive Officer Mary Powell said in an interview. “We wanted to make sure to grab all of that in the interest of customers as well as Sunrun.”

Investors were keen to see how much business rooftop solar companies would generate as homeowners in California raced to buy panels ahead of the regulatory change. Both SunPower and Sunrun said they were now offering batteries along with solar panels in California that can offer customers savings on their utility bills under the new incentive program.

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