Sunnova (NOVA)

Company website 2020 Financial Report Stock Analysis 2021 ESG Report:

107000

Customers

in more than 20 U.S. states and territories

719

Partners

Sunnova has 719 dealers, sub-dealers, and new homes installers as of September 2021

792

Megawatts

Deployed as of December 2020

View Our Analysis

The Path to Drawdown: Solar PVs

Solving climate change and staying below 1.5ºC of global warming demands a wholesale shift away from fossil fuels and toward using 100% zero-emissions sources.

The most powerful source of this clean energy is the sun. Photovoltaic or PV solar panels (the kind you see on rooftops) have emerged as the predominant way of capturing the sun's energy and converting it into electricity. This industry has been growing quickly: as of 2020, solar panels are the cheapest source of electricity in most places on earth.

Solar produces ~2% of global electricity today. According to Project Drawdown, to be on a path to remain under 1.5ºC of warming, utility scale solar will need to be generating a combined ~26% of global electricity by 2050.

To get there, the PV solar industry needs to keep massively scaling over the few next decades:

<::marker> 720 TWh of solar electricity was generated in 2019
<::marker> 28,200 TWh is needed by 2050
<::marker> That’s a CAGR of 12.56% from 2019 - 2050

Analysis from the IEA also predicts that, to reach a 100% clean electricity grid by 2050, annual solar panel manufacturing capacity will need to scale from 737 GW in 2020 to 4,956 GW in 2030 (p.198).

About

Sunnova Energy International, Inc. (stock ticker: NOVA) is a residential solar and energy storage service provider. They partner with local dealers who originate, design, and install their customers' solar energy systems and energy storage systems on their behalf. Sunnova is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

NOVA's Role in Drawdown

Sunnova offers customers products to power their homes with affordable solar energy. They also make it possible in some states to obtain a new roof and other ancillary products as part of their solar loan. Their solar service agreements take the form of a lease, power purchase agreement, or loan.

Both residential solar and energy storage are key Drawdown solutions for electrifying the energy system.

NOVA: What We Like

Sunnova is helping clean up the energy system by installing solar PV panels on rooftops. Since their founding in 2012, their panels have helped avoid 1.7 million metric tons (p. 17) of greenhouse gases, and their solar systems will help generate nearly 24.7 billion KWh of clean energy.

On top of this, Sunnova has committed to adding electric vehicles (p. 19) to their service fleet. These vehicles are expected to be available by 2022 and will be an important part of their strategy for reducing their corporate emissions and setting them on a path toward net-zero.

What We Want to See Improve

Disclose Scope 3 Emissions

We commend Sunnova for reporting their scope 1 and 2 emissions for 2020. They are planning (p. 18) to undertake rigorous assessment to measure their scope 3 emissions in the future. Scope 3 emissions account for the vast majority of most companies emissions, and it's important that Sunnova follow through on this promise to let investors hold them accountable.

Set Clear Goals

Sunnova hints (p. 19) that they will be working toward net-zero emissions. But this goal isn't spelled out clearly. To contribute to the fight against climate change, companies will need to achieve net-zero emissions, or even better, absolute zero emissions. We'd like to see Sunnova setting out clear targets for getting to zero emissions in their sustainability report for the years 2030 and 2050.

Nudge Suppliers to Cut Emissions

Sunnova's sustainability report includes a Dealer and Vendor Environmental Policy (p. 20), but it stops short of spelling out expectations relating to carbon emissions. To reduce emissions through their value chain, we want to push Sunnova to nudge their suppliers, dealers and vendors to also cut their corporate emissions.

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0.42%	MasTec, Inc. (MTZ)	MasTec builds the infrastructure that connects the US power generation to consumers. Expanding the grid is critical for integrating more renewables
0.42%	WESCO International, Inc. (WCC)	WESCO helps the power grid expand and adapt to a growing integration of clean energy. A key Drawdown solution for a more resilient and green grid
0.31%	Sunnova (NOVA)	Sunnova provides residential solar and energy storage systems in the United States. Both are critical for electrifying the energy system
0.17%	SPX Corporation (SPXC)	SPC makes transformers and cooling equipment for power generation and transmission - expanding the grid helps to integrate more renewable energy
0.03%	Willdan Group (WLDN)	Willdan helps utilities with new construction, improve efficiency, and demand response - all valuable in expanding and making the grid more resilient