The German operation of home battery company sonnen has filed for insolvency, just two months after oil major Shell sold the business to investment group TIVEN. Management at sonnen GmbH confirmed the filing and notified around 400 employees at the company’s facility in Wildpoldsried, Bavaria.<\/p>\n
The company says it intends to continue servicing more than 150,000 existing customers, but the European structure faces significant contraction. Multiple subsidiaries are expected to be liquidated or placed under self-management during the restructuring, and only one of the several production sites is expected to remain.<\/p>\n
The picture in the United States looks far brighter. sonnen USA reports doubled sales and tripled production at its Stone Mountain, Georgia plant, with plans to ship more than 180 MWh of residential energy storage systems in 2026. Growth is driven largely by virtual power plants \u2014 programmes that aggregate home batteries to support the electricity grid. The Solrite scheme in Texas connects more than 6,000 homes, with additional projects running in Massachusetts and Utah.<\/p>\n
TIVEN, which acquired sonnen with stated ambitions of expanding the US side, has signalled its priorities clearly. US chief executive Blake Richetta said the new owner was firmly committed to sonnen USA’s long-term success and to its position as a leader in the North American virtual power plant market.<\/p>\n
Despite the upbeat tone from across the Atlantic, sonnen USA representatives declined to comment to pv magazine on events in Germany. Customers still lack official guidance on how the company intends to maintain production, software, and service obligations through the restructuring.<\/p>\n