Solar pioneer insolvent: sunset in Allgäu

Sonnen GmbH from Wildpoldsried in the Allgäu is insolvent. The battery manufacturer, founded in 2010, made a name for itself as a green energy pioneer early on through digital networking of solar storage systems – called “SonnenCommunity”. At times, the company advertised that it operated the “world’s largest electricity sharing platform”.

Until recently, Sonnen described itself as “a fast-growing technology company” that was “active in more than 11 markets worldwide”. There are locations in Italy, Great Britain, Australia and the USA, among others. At times the company had 1,700 employees worldwide. The company defined its “vision” with the sentence: “Clean and affordable energy for everyone.” According to the company, people are connected who produce clean electricity, which at the same time promotes “the communal idea”.

Lofty goals – but the company never got off to a successful start economically. A massive growth strategy led to high start-up costs over the years that could never be refinanced. The situation did not change when the oil and gas company Shell got involved in May 2018 and completely took over the company in February 2019 for around 500 million euros. Now sales increased - by 40 percent in 2023 alone - but the business still did not become profitable. Only once in its history, in 2020, was the company able to make a small profit.

In the end it even went steeply downwards. The latest annual report from 2024 shows a record loss of almost 107 million euros, with an accumulated loss carryforward from previous years of more than 135 million euros. Sales collapsed to 78 million euros in 2024, after being a good 263 million euros the year before. One reason was the now massive competition in the home storage market from Chinese providers.

In view of the development, Shell had been looking for a buyer since 2023, but no one was found for a long time. It was only last August that the company went to the Tiven family office, which is backed by the co-founder of the Munich restructuring investor Aurelius, Gert Purkert. In connection with the sale, Shell spoke of “optimizing the portfolio”. In the end, the company is said to have made a triple-digit million loss due to its investment.

Tiven, in turn, looked at the company for a good two months and then sent it bankrupt: On Thursday, the company filed for insolvency under self-administration. The Handelsblatt then quoted people familiar with the company's current developments as saying: "The company is highly dysfunctional and is burning money endlessly."

There are still no statements about the continued existence of the headquarters in Wildpoldsried, where 400 people work. As the Handelsblatt reports, in addition to Sonnen GmbH, numerous Sonnen subsidiaries are also being wound up or sent into bankruptcy. Only a single production site should be retained. When asked, neither Sonnen nor Tiven have commented on the bankruptcy.

According to media reports, the service for existing customers will continue despite the bankruptcy. According to its own information, the company has installed more than 150,000 “sun batteries” since it was founded. “Over 250,000 people worldwide trust in our solutions and are part of the SonnenCommunity,” Sonnen continues to advertise on its website.