Description of Business and Basis of Presentation

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Description of Business and Basis of Presentation

Description of Business and Basis of Presentation

We are a leading residential energy service provider, serving over 195,000 customers in more than 25 United States ("U.S.") states and territories. Sunnova Energy Corporation was incorporated in Delaware on October 22, 2012 and formed Sunnova Energy International Inc. ("SEI") as a Delaware corporation on April 1, 2019. We completed our initial public offering on July 29, 2019 (our "IPO"); and in connection with our IPO, all of Sunnova Energy Corporation's ownership interests were contributed to SEI. Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this report to "Sunnova," the "Company," "we," "our," "us," or like terms, refer to SEI and its consolidated subsidiaries.

We have a differentiated residential solar dealer model in which we partner with local dealers who originate, design and install our customers' solar energy systems and energy storage systems on our behalf. Our focus on our dealer model enables us to leverage our dealers' specialized knowledge, connections and experience in local markets to drive customer origination while providing our dealers with access to high quality products at competitive prices, as well as technical oversight and expertise. We believe this structure provides operational flexibility, reduces exposure to labor shortages and lowers fixed costs relative to our peers, furthering our competitive advantage.

Our recently completed acquisition of SunStreet Energy Group, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company ("SunStreet"), focuses primarily on solar energy systems and energy storage systems for homebuilders. We believe the acquisition provides a new strategic path to further scale our residential solar business, reduces customer acquisition costs, provides a multi-year supply of homesites through the development of new home solar communities and allows us to pursue the development of clean and resilient residential microgrids across the U.S.

We provide our services through long-term residential solar service agreements with a diversified pool of credit quality customers. Our solar service agreements typically are structured as either a legal-form lease (a "lease") of a solar energy system or energy storage system to the customer, the sale of the solar energy system's output to the customer under a power purchase agreement ("PPA") or the purchase of a solar energy system or energy storage system with financing provided by us (a "loan"); however, we also offer service plans for systems previously originated by our competitors. We make it possible in some states for a customer to obtain a new roof and other ancillary products as part of their solar loan. We also allow customers originated through our homebuilder channel the option of purchasing the system when the customer closes on the purchase of a new home. The initial term of our solar service agreements is typically between 10 and 25 years, during which time we provide or arrange for ongoing services to customers, including monitoring, maintenance and warranty services. Our lease and PPA agreements typically include an opportunity for customers to renew for up to an additional 10 years, via two five-year or one 10-year renewal options. Customer payments and rates can be fixed for the duration of the solar service agreement or escalated at a pre-determined percentage annually. We also receive tax benefits and other incentives from leases and PPAs, a portion of which we finance through tax equity, non-recourse debt structures and hedging arrangements in order to fund our upfront costs, overhead and growth investments. Our future success depends in part on our ability to raise capital from third-party investors and commercial sources. We have an established track record of attracting capital from diverse sources. From our inception through December 31, 2021, we have raised more than $9.0 billion in total capital commitments from equity, debt and tax equity investors.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying annual audited consolidated financial statements ("consolidated financial statements") include our consolidated balance sheets, statements of operations, statements of redeemable noncontrolling interests and equity and statements of cash flows and have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP") from records maintained by us. Our consolidated financial statements include our accounts and those of our subsidiaries in which we have a controlling financial interest. In accordance with the provisions of the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") 810, Consolidation, we consolidate any VIE of which we are the primary beneficiary. We form VIEs with our investors in the ordinary course of business to facilitate the funding and monetization of certain attributes associated with our solar energy systems. The typical condition for a controlling financial interest is holding a majority of the voting interests of an entity. However, a controlling financial interest may also exist in entities, such as VIEs, through arrangements that do not involve holding a majority of the voting interests. A primary beneficiary is defined as the party that has (a) the power to direct the activities of a VIE that most significantly impact the VIE's economic performance and (b) the obligation to absorb losses or receive benefits from the VIE that could potentially be significant to the VIE. We do not consolidate a VIE in which we have a majority ownership interest when we are not considered the primary beneficiary. We have considered the provisions within the contractual arrangements that grant us power to manage and make decisions that affect the operation of our VIEs, including determining the solar energy systems contributed to the VIEs, and the installation, operation and maintenance of the solar energy systems. We consider the rights granted to the

other investors under the contractual arrangements to be more protective in nature rather than substantive participating rights. As such, we have determined we are the primary beneficiary of our VIEs and evaluate our relationships with our VIEs on an ongoing basis to determine whether we continue to be the primary beneficiary. We have eliminated all intercompany transactions in consolidation.

Reclassifications

Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation. These reclassifications did not have a significant impact on our consolidated financial statements.

Coronavirus ("COVID-19") Pandemic

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has resulted and may continue to result in widespread adverse impacts on the global economy. We have experienced some resulting disruptions to our business operations as the COVID-19 virus has continued to circulate through the states and U.S. territories in which we operate.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have continued to service and install solar energy systems. The industry is currently facing shortages and shipping delays affecting the supply of energy storage systems, modules and component parts for inverters and racking used in solar energy systems available for purchase. These shortages and delays can be attributed in part to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting government action, as well as to allegations regarding the use of forced labor in the Chinese polysilicon supply chain. While a majority of our dealers have secured sufficient quantities to permit them to continue installing through much of 2022, if these shortages and delays persist, they could impact the timing of when solar energy systems and energy storage systems can be installed and when we can acquire and begin to generate revenue from those systems. In addition, if supply chains become significantly disrupted due to additional outbreaks of the COVID-19 virus or otherwise, or more stringent health and safety guidelines are implemented, our ability to install and service solar energy systems could become adversely impacted. We cannot predict the full impact the COVID-19 pandemic will have on our business, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition and results of operations at this time due to numerous uncertainties. We will continue to monitor developments affecting our workforce, our customers and our business operations generally, and will take actions we determine are necessary in order to mitigate these impacts.