Sunrun Installed 167.6 MW Solar Energy Capacity In Q1/2021

US based residential solar and storage services company Sunrun Inc. has lifted its full year 2021 guidance to expect 25% to 30% annual growth for its solar energy capacity to be installed through the year. Previously, the guidance was for 20% to 25% annual growth.

Management is also expecting total value generated to be above $750 million for 2021, having gone up in its estimates from previous its guidance of more than $700 million. It continues to expect cost synergies from the acquisition of Vivint Solar to be close to $120 million in run-rate synergies by the end of 2021.

What gives confidence to the leadership team to offer these revised estimates for 2021 is the company's business performance in Q1/2021 with its solar energy capacity installed at 167.6 MW having gone up by 9% from Q1/2020, pro-forma to include Vivint Solar, but a drop of 2% from Q4/2020 (see Sunrun Deployed 171.6 MW Solar In Q4/2020).

At the end of Q1/2021, its network solar energy capacity was 4.1 GW, growing 18% from previous year. It added approximately 23,500 new customers to its kitty, including some 20,100 subscriber additions, taking its overall customer base to exceed 573,000 customers and nearly 499,000 subscribers. According to Sunrun, it gets significant recurring revenue with most contracts under 20 or 25 year duration.

Total revenues for the company were reported at $334.8 million, going up 59% from last year, with customer agreements and incentives revenue of $174.6 million, up 76% on YoY basis. Solar energy systems and product sales in the reporting quarter added up to $160.2 million, growing 44% compared to Q1/2020 (see 13% YoY Improvement For Sunrun Deployments In Q1/2020).

"While we are very focused on integration in the near term, we expect to see sequential quarterly growth in solar energy capacity installed in Q2 that is well above 10%," explained Chief Financial Officer Thomas VonReichbauer. "The combination of investments to accelerate growth and our progressive ramp in the synergy realization will result in more front-loaded costs resulting in lower net subscriber values in Q2, but with sequential increases throughout the second half of the year."

Having installed close to 20,000 Brightbox systems in the US, Sunrun expects installations of its solar energy storage solution to increase by more than 100% in 2021 compared to last year. Management said the company is 'well insulated' to the supply chain situation. It did admit experiencing 'a little bit of low inventory levels', and said it has strong supply contracts while also having increased target inventory levels.

"Despite the industry's supply-side challenges, the company sits in a strong position as being one of, if not, the largest customers and as a result has all the components it needs. Near-term positive catalysts include new EV partnerships, an update on capital allocation strategy for shareholders, and more ABSs likely at ever more attractive spreads," commented Roth Capital Partners' Philip Shen.