In a decisive turn, solar company SunPower, under financial duress, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and is moving forward with selling select assets. The company announced on Monday an agreement to sell its Blue Raven Solar, New Homes, and non-installing Dealer network for $45 million to Complete Solaria, Inc., a deal structured as a 'stalking horse bid.' This pre-arranged deal signals a potential end to SunPower's operational existence, a company that has been an integral part of the solar technology landscape since 1985, as cited by Reuters.

The announcement caused SunPower's shares to plummet by around 45% to 44 cents in premarket trading yesterday. In documents filed with the Delaware bankruptcy court, SunPower revealed a broad range of assets and liabilities, between $1 billion and $10 billion, according to Reuters. The company's recent hardships escalated with the departure of its CEO in February, compounded by a subpoena from the U.S. securities regulator probing its accounting practices and paused operations reported last month.

A "stalking horse bid," as the one Complete Solaria has placed, sets a floor for the auction process, inviting others to outbid it if they are interested in SunPower's assets. This strategic sale includes Blue Raven Solar, which SunPower had acquired for $165 million just three years earlier in 2021. As per SunPower, SunPower's Executive Chairman Tom Werner stated, "We are confident Complete Solaria's CEO, T.J. Rodgers, will carry forward our vision to shape the future of residential solar as a pioneer in this space".

Complete Solaria's acquisition appears poised to reinforce its market presence amidst an industry backdrop where solar energy utility generation costs have dipped below those for coal, signaling an accelerating shift to zero-emission sources. "Solar energy utility generation costs are now 2.4 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) versus 3.6 cents per kWh for coal, the cheapest fossil fuel source," said T.J. Rodgers, CEO of Complete Solaria, per SunPower. He highlighted the financial edge of homeowners generating their power at a lower cost than most state utilities.