Sunrun: Overview
Sunrun is a solar panel company that operates on the territory of the U.S.A. The organization was created in January 2007 in order to make the planet more ecological. Lynn Jurich, Ed Fenster, and Nat Kreamer were co-founders who decided that everything should be run by the sun. Back then, the issue of global warming was just raised, and there was a necessity to introduce mitigation measures. According to the source, “Sunrun is the nation’s largest dedicated residential solar, storage and energy services company, with over 3,000 employees serving more than 134,000 families in 22 states” (“Sunrun celebrates 10 years,” 2017). Sunrun has raised more than $200 million in venture capital funding from large investors such as Foundations Capital, Idinvest Partners, and others. Therefore, by serving global interests, the organization has managed to contribute to the major objective – fighting climate change.
Unlike its competitor, Sunrun kept expanding because it posed an audacious mission right from its start. The creators claimed that the planet should be run by the Sun. Aiming to introduce sustainable power sources, the founders decided to produce solar panels. They wanted to provide everyone with accessible power batteries in order to contribute to a better planet’s future. As per the report, Sunrun is “focused on developing a differentiated talent brand and providing opportunities to train workers to be part of the clean energy economy” (Sunrun, 2021, p. 3). It implies that the workers constitute a significant value to the organization. By making an effort toward changing employees’ consciousness, the company can reach immense success. Sunrun’s vision is that solar power sources should be accessible, affordable, rechargeable, and reliable so that individuals can take care of their future. In general, when a company poses a mission like this, it is likely to succeed because of its commitment and desire to provide a safe environment worldwide.
From its inception, Sunrun introduced solar panels to the customer, and the company’s product line has not expanded greatly throughout its years of operating. The manufacturer still offers solar panels for purchase or lease. The website suggests different plans for the buyers so that they are free to choose, which is beneficial because the panels are quite expensive. There are various plans: monthly or full amount lease, monthly solar loan, or purchase of a solar system. Sunrun also offers a solar battery backup service so that the clients may be confident the light will not go off. In addition, it sells racking systems and investors to the resellers.
The company sticks to a decentralized function-based organizational structure that presupposes business divisions. Each division is headed by the chief officer and vice president, who have direct communication with a chief executive officer (CEO). These units include finance, customer service, marketing, energy services, and others to guarantee the smooth running of the business. The business culture is human-oriented, which means providing customers and employees with a bright experience of living in a safe environment. As per the operations of Sunrun, it supplies its products both domestically and overseas. The company operates in 23 states in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. The finances are managed by the financial department, which generates annual reports. The revenue of the company is generated by its customer agreements and incentives.
Annual Report 2020 Review
Every year Sunrun issues an annual report which is accessible to the public. It helps to trace the development and growth of the company and find its strengths and weaknesses. Preferred shares are special equity security that offers the properties of equity and debt. In 2020, Sunrun’s preferred stock was equal to $14 million, which was almost three times bigger than in 2019 (Sunrun, 2021, p. 9). These shares are a special type of stock that gives the right to demand dividends or return of capital upon liquidation of the company; therefore, they are indispensable for any large company.
Securities for which shareholders are regularly paid remuneration are called dividend shares. By buying dividend stocks, both experienced stock market players and beginners understand that this is a long-term strategy. This is a convenient way to generate income with a gradual increase in the investment portfolio value. Over time, a small amount of initial investment can turn into quite a decent state. Sunrun annually pays dividends, and in 2020 it paid $192,597 (Sunrun, 2021, p. 10). In most cases, payments on shares of dividend companies are made quarterly.
Company stocks are securities that indicate that their owner has contributed to the company’s capital. The owner of the shares has the full right to receive profit in the form of dividends. Today’s share price of Sunrun is $26,79, whereas a year ago, it was $11,1. Having conducted the calculations means that the change is 1,41% a year (“Sunrun Inc. (RUN),” n. d.). The stocks’ prices change drastically depending on the economic condition, which fluctuates due to several factors.
First of all, the fight against the pandemic causes global economic changes. Its presence causes great socio-political and psychological consequences, which, in turn, have an impact on both the economy and socio-political life. It has been observed how the pandemic has affected elections in individual countries, how it affects the development of certain sectors of the economy, and how it significantly distorts markets and investment processes. It also influences transport and logistics systems and their functioning. The second factor that will have a decisive impact on the development of the world economy in the coming years is the new stage of the technological revolution and the growth of intercorporate and interstate innovation competition. This factor greatly affected Sunrun because the technological advances made it possible to develop new products, increasing the stock price.
Competition for new high-tech markets, for the development, implementation, development of innovations, and formation of new market niches and products have a very significant impact on the development of the world economy. Sunrun is highly affected by the competition, and since it aims to create the most innovative solar panels, it needs to hold a strong competitive advantage to increase its stock price. The fourth factor is the formation, development, and widespread introduction of new socio-organizational, managerial and humanitarian technologies. Now, again, thanks to artificial intelligence thanks to big data processing technologies, these tools acquire a completely new sound and a new potential impact on the organization of society.
The ultimate factor that impacts the world economy and a heavy, increasing influence is a new stage of interstate competition in the security sphere, the military-political globe, and the struggle for spheres of influence. There are trends of aggravation, the arms race, and technological competition between new leaders and the old ones in the military, military-technological, and military-political spheres. However, this factor is unlikely to influence Sunrun’s activity in the future years.
References
Sunrun celebrates 10 years of solar innovation and growth. (2017). Sunrun. Web.
Sunrun Inc. (RUN). (n. d.). Yahoo Finance. Web.
Sunrun. (2021). Sunrun reports fourth quarter and full year 2020 financial results. Web.