Suniva & SolarWorld May Land Their Hail Mary

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A Critical Decision on Solar is Coming

Remember how we previously told youabout bankrupt Suniva Inc. and SolarWorld AG's efforts to get the Trump Administration to levy tariffs on foreign solar imports (looking at you China)? Well, the US International Trade Commission ruled on Friday that domestic makers are, in fact, hurt by foreign imports. There are a few admin steps before it goes to Trump but this could get interesting. Choice quote: "Hopper argues Suniva and SolarWorld are the victims of mismanagement and that the foreign-owned companies are using U.S. trade laws to bail out their bad investments." You read that right: both companies are actually majority owned by, wait for it, non-US companies. W.T.F.

Bankrupt Solar Companies Are Pressuring @POTUS Towards Protectionism

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We've previously noted Suniva's efforts to initiate a trade investigation (which, significantly, was a condition precedent to the $4mm DIP credit facility):this notes how significant the case could be for the solar industry and how it could score President Trump some major points. Notably, SolarWorld AG has now joined in the fun.

Solar Troubles

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Last week we mentioned solar bailouts and blamed, in part, bad business models. Apparently, the numbers are bad too. Employees are now coming out saying that Sunrun's numbers were juiced just prior to its IPO. This doesn't bode well for the Sequoia Capital-backed solar company which is now under SEC investigation. The company allegedly failed to report cancellations which had the effect of jacking up the number of customers and the megawatts booked - two critical metrics for revenue measurement. Meanwhile, SolarWorld USA announced massive layoffs after an affiliate previously filed for administration in Germany.

SolarWorld AG = Latest Solar Bankruptcy

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Renewables. Solar companies have been getting a lot of exposure to bankruptcy courts these days whether as an installer (Sungevity) or manufacturer (Suniva). This week, German company SolarWorld AG followed suit and time will tell if its US subsidiaries will also end up in bankruptcy court. Apparently, Suniva is taking efforts to compel the government to impose tariffs - a strategy that some question as counter-productive.