From pv magazine USA
SunPower, a distributed solar technology, services, and installation company, has agreed to acquire Ambia Solar in an equity transaction valued at $37.5 million. The transaction, executed via a non-binding letter of intent, is scheduled to close this quarter. Ambia Solar is the 19th largest US solar company by installed megawatts, according to Ohm Analytics.
The acquisition combines SunPower’s established national footprint with Ambia’s sales and operations model, designed to maximize margins and cycle speed in the competitive residential solar market. Ambia, based just 1.7 miles from SunPower’s headquarters in Lindon, Utah, will be merged into SunPower’s Blue Raven division, from which Ambia originally spun out in 2022.
The central theme of the deal is operational synergy and management expertise. SunPower CEO T.J. Rodgers highlighted Ambia’s leadership team as a “big win for SunPower,” pointing to Ambia’s novel sales approach.
“Ambia’s founding CEO, Conner Ruggio, is a sales expert who believes that winning sales teams should create more added value for their companies by performing the standard initial site survey,” Rodgers said.
This approach shifts the initial survey from the operations team to the sales team, eliminating a week of delay and reducing cost.
Upon closing, Conner Ruggio will take the helm as the leader of the combined Blue Raven division. Steve Erickson, the SunPower veteran who previously led Blue Raven, will transition to run the company’s newly formed Battery Division, which Rodgers noted addresses “the biggest opportunity in solar right now: battery storage and backup.”
Ambia Chief Operating Officer Spencer Jensen will serve as COO of the merged division, overseeing operations. Jensen said his goal is to drive operational improvements, citing Ambia’s performance metrics of a 41.6-day order-to-install median cycle time and a customer Net Promoter Score of 71.
“I look forward to combining the two operations teams and moving them to the next level of operational performance. I also look forward to combining our two mid-western sales forces to bring each state to critical mass without increasing field overhead,” said Jensen.
“SEIA has forecasted that the US residential solar industry will install a massive 11 GW (about $28 billion) – 6.0 GW in 2025 and 5.2 GW in 2026,” said T.R. Rodgers, chief executive officer, SunPower. “Right now, due to the 2026 forecasted 13% [Investment Tax Credit] reduction, the industry is consolidating.”
Rodgers said the acquisition is vital to navigating the challenge of expiring tax credits, noting that Ambia’s backlog will be 72% TPO (Third-Party Ownership) at the close. The ITC sunset for homeowners at year’s-end 2025 does not apply to TPO-funded transactions, making Ambia’s customer mix a crucial asset for SunPower’s stability.
“The tangible benefits of the acquisition after closure will show up fully in Q1’26 financial statements, just when the new industry will be challenged with the ITC loss for homeowners,” Rodgers said.
With Ambia’s 2025 projected revenue of $83.6 million bolstering SunPower’s equivalent forecast of $303.4 million, the company expects the integration to reinforce its existing guidance to achieve record revenue and operating income in Q4’25, and to “remain profitable in the double-jeopardy Q1’26 quarter.”
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