Making an Impact

A Message from Our CEO

Our mission of creating a planet run by the sun is more critical than ever. Destructive climate impacts, multi-day power outages, and increasing energy costs expose our rapidly growing need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and an aging centralized grid.

We are witnessing a customer-led revolution in energy accessibility and clean solar energy and storage is only a fraction of what our customers are demanding from us. They need a partner who can help them electrify their home, tap into decentralized energy resources, charge their electric vehicles, and much more. We can assist our customers with all of these deeply interconnected services and we will stand behind our services with a multi-decade commitment as we help find additional ways to make their homes safer and more comfortable. Sunrun’s accelerating growth is indicative of the seismic shifts occurring in both customer demands and technological innovation. Our large scale allows us to provide our customers with access to the most cutting edge battery and solar technology on the market, as well as access to enhanced innovative solutions as soon as they are available. Together with our offerings, we are able to meet our customers where they are in their energy journey and provide the services they demand. We meet our customers in retail outlets all around the country, through beloved channel partners, and direct from our own team members who are routinely out in communities around the country.

Sunrun’s customer-obsessed culture is essential to our mission and how we build a leading energy company. For this reason, I view our people as our most cherished and valuable investment. In order to grow and retain the right mission-oriented team of professionals, this year we partnered with Guild Education to launch PowerU, a continuing education program. We have found that PowerU has significantly increased retention, productivity, and engagement while simultaneously lowering hiring costs. We also launched an apprenticeship program in multiple states which included approximately 200 Sunrunners at the end of 2021 enrolled in certificate programs to become electricians. We will continue to find creative ways to attract, retain and train the right talent as we grow.

Diversity and inclusion is at the heart of our mantra “power of the people, for the people’’ and we fundamentally believe that our workforce must be as diverse as the communities we serve. I am proud to see all manner of representation sitting across from me in the Sunrun boardroom. Sunrun’s multitude of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) ensure that we are tapping into the power of our diversity and that all employees are equipped with built-in networks to find whatever added support they need. To that end, in January 2022, Sunrun received a perfect score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2022 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), the nation’s foremost benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ workplace equality earning the designation as one of the Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality.

I believe that residential solar has hit a tipping point of customer acceptance and that now is the time for radical collaboration with incumbent players in order to speed the transition to a modernized electric grid.


Mary Powell

Chief Executive Officer

ESG

Sunrun is committed to serving all stakeholders: our employees, our customers, our financial partners, and the communities in which we operate. Our annual impact reports allow us to evaluate and understand the impacts of our business on the world around us.

View 2021 Impact ReportView 2020 Impact Report
View 2019 Impact ReportView 2018 Impact Report
View 2017 Impact Report

Our Impact

Our impact spans across multiple areas. Beginning with our customers saving money on their utility bills by switching to solar power, to creating quality jobs in our communities and finally, to protecting the planet for future generations.

660K+

We have more than 660,000 customers, as of the end of 2021

$800M

The amount of savings we have provided to our customers

20B

Cumulative kilowatt hours of clean energy produced since 2007

Environmental Stewardship

Sunrun’s systems have helped avoid greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions totaling 11.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).

That is the equivalent to negating:

27.8B

Miles driven by an average passenger vehicle

1.3B

Gallons of gasoline from an average passenger vehicle

2.2M

Home’s electricity use for a year

At Sunrun, we offer clean, reliable, affordable solar energy and battery storage solutions to accelerate the transition away from polluting fossil fuels. We recognize that inaction on climate change threatens global security and stability, and bringing solutions to bear on the issue remains the driving force behind our mission to create a planet run by the sun. Sunrun is committed to comprehensive environmental stewardship as demonstrated through the following avenues:

Climate Change and Emissions


Climate Change Strategy

In 2021, Sunrun further solidified its position as a global leader in solar deployment and environmental stewardship after successfully acquiring and integrating Vivint Solar. This transaction has accelerated the shift to a lower-carbon, more climate-resilient economy. As persistent climate risks and industry inertia disrupt or compromise operations—during the recent fires in California, East Coast hurricanes, and freeze-caused blackouts in Texas—we continue to assess and respond to current and future climate risks by leading on the electrification of the home, community, and transportation. 

Reducing GHG Emissions

During 2021, we deployed 792 megawatts of solar power. These systems can generate more than 31 billion kilowatt-hours of clean energy during the next 30 years, which is estimated to be equivalent to more than 17 million metric tons of CO2e avoided. This quantity is more than 21 times greater than the quantity of CO2e emitted to deploy these systems, which means that the systems Sunrun has deployed negate significantly more emissions than we produce.

Positive Carbon Returns

Once Sunrun’s solar energy systems begin operating, positive carbon returns accrue rapidly. Our deployed solar energy systems prevent more GHG emissions than they emit over their product life cycle, resulting in a net-positive carbon balance. After operating for just 17 months, a Sunrun solar energy system has produced enough clean energy to compensate for the emissions released during manufacturing and installation of the system. Because Sunrun’s systems are expected to produce clean energy for 30 years or longer, our systems prevent the release of harmful GHGs for 95% of their lifetime.

Environmental Management System

As the largest solar provider in the United States, we hold ourselves accountable for managing all our environmental impacts in a way that improves the wellbeing of the planet. This commitment to develop and implement an environmental policy and an environmental management system (EMS) prioritizes continual improvement. We also study our environmental impacts across our value chain so that we can define environmental performance metrics and improvement targets. In 2021, Sunrun started working with vendors to make utility reporting more robust, which has resulted in significantly improved data for the company’s EMS program. Now, with Vivint Solar fully integrated, we will continue to build a solid foundation anchored by a more sustainable operating environment in 2022.


Vehicle Fleet

We have made significant improvements in our fleet management and telematics capabilities, which expanded real-time monitoring to our entire fleet and provided opportunities to track drivers, optimize route patterns that enhanced safety, and reduced emissions and operating costs. While our fleet size has grown nearly 30% to support the growth in operations, we are well positioned to meet the updated goal of converting half of our vehicle fleet to hybrid or electric by 2025. As with the rest of the industry, the global chip shortage is delaying our ability to aggressively switch over to electric vehicles and, as a result, we will be employing a two-step approach to convert more towards hybrid vehicles in the near term and continue conversion to all-electric vehicles as availability improves.

We also continue to evaluate ways to further decrease our need for fleet vehicles. For example, by utilizing drones to conduct site surveys, we need fewer dedicated site survey resources, including vehicles. Additionally, we are looking at alternative models to reduce our reliance on large box trucks to transport materials.

Facilities

Increasing Facility LED Lighting
In 2021, Sunrun continued to convert warehouse lighting to light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs, which are about 25% more efficient than standard compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) bulbs and about 80% more efficient than halogen bulbs. As
a policy, all new facilities will have LED lighting in all primary areas.

Move to Electrification
In 2021, Sunrun continued its efforts to utilize electric forklifts in the majority of its warehouses. By the end of 2023, Sunrun will only have electric forklifts in permanent operation.

Reducing Corporate Office Space
In 2021, Sunrun decreased its overall corporate office space by 177,274 square feet, representing a 39% reduction. By optimizing the amount of leased corporate office space, Sunrun minimizes heating, cooling, and electricity emissions.

Equipment Recycling

As we continue to grow and deploy systems, we bear significant responsibility for managing the end of life for our hardware. That’s why Sunrun integrates product end-of-life considerations into our EMS and plans to decommission, redeploy, resell, or recycle our energy systems. In 2021 alone, Sunrun redeployed or recycled more than 2.6 megawatts of solar panels. Sunrun uses monocrystalline and multicrystalline photovoltaic modules, thereby avoiding the growing concerns about hazardous materials present in alternative chemistries such as thin-film modules. We now have processes in place to sustainably dispose of modules, batteries, inverters, and other electronic equipment used in installations through partnerships with third-party recycling and refurbishment vendors, such as Recycle PV Solar, Echo Environmental, and other groups associated with the Solar Industry Energy Association’s (SEIA) National PV Recycling Program. These vendors are certified under the Responsible Recyclers R2:2013, OHSAS 1800:2007, and ISO 14001:2007 standards. We are also working with our third-party vendors to redeploy or resell modules to minimize recycling to support a reduced environmental impact overall. Learn more about the industry’s approach to lifecycle considerations from the SEIA.

Responsible Mineral Sourcing

Sunrun expects its vendors to provide products that contain only responsibly sourced commodities. Vendors that supply products containing minerals including, but not limited to: cobalt, wolframite (titanium), cassiterite (tin), tungsten, and gold sourced from conflict-affected and high-risk areas must ensure that the sourcing of these minerals does not knowingly contribute—directly or indirectly—to armed conflict, including terrorist financing, or human rights violations. Sunrun expects vendors to source minerals in a manner consistent with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas. Sunrun recognizes that cobalt, a mineral used in some types of batteries, presents an increased risk of being sourced from areas associated with unfair labor practices. Because of this, we choose to work with battery manufacturers that share our commitment to responsible mineral sourcing. Some of our main suppliers are members of the Responsible Cobalt Initiative, which aims to create a shared set of policies and increase transparency around the cobalt supply chain. Additionally, Sunrun will continue to evaluate battery innovations that may further reduce the mineral content of batteries.

Vendor Sustainability

Sunrun works with vendors that share our commitment to creating a better, greener, and kinder planet. That’s why we included policies on environmental protection and sustainability as well as responsible mineral sourcing in our Vendor Code of Conduct, adopted in January 2019. We expect all of our vendors to adhere to the policies set forth in Sunrun’s Vendor Code of Conduct.


Preventing Forced Labor

Sunrun is also at the forefront of addressing concerns about forced labor in the solar supply chain. Over the past two years, Sunrun has played a leading role in the development with SEIA of the Solar Supply Chain Traceability Protocol, and Sunrun has worked closely with its suppliers to improve their end-to-end supply chain traceability and transparency. Additionally, Sunrun has developed a Certificate of Compliance program executed in partnership with many of these suppliers and has verified with third party audit firms to validate and enforce these traceability standards. Sunrun will continue to expand and deepen its endto-end supply chain management to support the ethical and fair treatment of all employees.

People and Communities

Sunrun ended 2021 with approximately 11,300 employees throughout the United States. At the company level, 84% of our employees are in frontline functions engaging with our customers. Those employees in frontline functions consist of 47% of employees who are involved in installations and 37% in sales. Management and corporate functions comprise 16% of our total employee population.

Sunrun received a score of 100 on the 2022 HRC Corporate Equality Index “Best Place to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality,” joining other major U.S. businesses committed to cultivating a workplace that is inclusive and equitable for all.

People and Communities

Diversity

Culture

Perks and Benefits

Company for Women

CEO

Compensation

Pay Parity

Sunrun continues our commitment to the following pay parity pledges:

  • White House Equal Pay Pledge of 2016 under the Obama Administration
  • The California Equal Pay Pledge Developed as part of the Partnership Between the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls and the Office of California First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom (April 01, 2019)

As of December 31, 2021, individuals who identify as women comprised 56% of Sunrun’s Board of Directors and 50% of our executive management team. Approximately 20% of all Sunrun employees identify as women.

Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging

Achieving a more diverse workplace begins with understanding our current demographics. We believe that transparency in our representation, at all levels of the organization, helps us identify areas of needed improvement and measure our success.

Compensation, Wellness and Benefits

Sunrun is committed to providing a living wage of at least $15 per hour to all employees. Sunrun is actively working to differentiate ourselves in terms of total rewards and benefits to help us to attract and retain our talent.

In 2021 Sunrun:

  • Launched a new education benefit, Power U, through Guild Education. With this benefit, employees receive 100%
    funding for all programs offered including reimbursement for all required course books and fees.
  • Developed a robust COVID-19 leave policy to support employees:
    • We implemented a remote worker policy for non-field
      employees.
    • For field employees, the COVID-19 Safety Task Force
      has continued to establish protocols in accordance with
      the latest guidance from government agencies to keep
      our employees safe.
We believe it is important for our employees to spend time with their families, focus on personal well being, and serve their communities. 

In 2021, we offered: 
  • 11 paid holidays
  • Paid time off for non-exempt employees and freedom time off for all exempt employees
  • Two paid volunteer days per year to allow our
  • employees to help build stronger communities
  • One annual flexible holiday
  • 10 days of paid leave for active military service
  • Up to 10 weeks of paid parental leave for all employees who have been at the company for more than a year

Environmental and Societal Development Goals

Sunrun is committed to mitigating the human-controlled impacts of climate change.

  • We plan to build a network of solar systems that will offset carbon emissions by more than 600 million metric tons over their lifetimes in the next decade
  • We are setting a goal to decrease the overall carbon intensity of our operations by 20% by 2030
  • We are setting a goal to achieve net zero carbon emissions of our operations by 2040
  • We plan to transition half of our vehicle fleet to either electric or hybrid by the end of 2025
  • We plan to implement 100% equipment recycling at each facility by 2023

Sunrun is committed to building a diverse, fair and equitable workforce.

  • We will sustain our focus on pay equity through periodic review
  • We will embed the principles of diversity, inclusion and belonging as implicit in everything we do
  • We will foster the growth of our Employee Resource Groups to support inclusion and belonging among our employees, improve awareness, and drive greater social impact
  • We will foster a diverse workforce that represents our customers, and the communities in which we live and work. We strive to achieve gender parity in Director and above roles and BIPOC parity in Manager
    roles by 2030. 

Sunrun is committed to improving environmental equity and justice.

  • We are setting a goal to contribute 100,000 employee volunteering hours by 2030
  • We plan to bring at least 500 megawatts of low-income solar to people across the country by 2030, benefiting hundreds of thousands of residents of disadvantaged communities.

Corporate Governance

At Sunrun, operating our business with integrity, responsibility, and accountability is a priority. We believe having a culture of compliance with strong governance practices promotes long-term value, and we are committed to conducting business ethically. We work to continually enhance the structures, policies, and internal controls that support and promote accountability, transparency, and ethical behavior. We expect all of our employees and partners to act according to the highest standards of honesty and ethical conduct. Our commitment to good corporate governance is reflected in our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, our Human Rights Policy, our Vendor Code of Conduct, and other related governance policies, which are reviewed annually by the Nominating and Governance Committee, and any changes deemed appropriate are submitted to the full Board for its consideration.

View Audit Committee Charter
View Compensation Committee Charter
View Nominating, Governance, and Sustainability Committee Charter
View Code of Business Conduct and Ethics
View Sunrun Vendor Code of Conduct
View Sunrun Human Rights Policy
View 2021 Impact ReportView 2020 Impact Report
View 2019 Impact ReportView 2018 Impact Report
View 2017 Impact Report

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors makes recommendations and conducts unbiased evaluation and supervision of management activities. It maintains an independent majority at all times and comprises seven members, all but two of whom are independent. Gerald Risk serves as Lead Independent Director and is responsible for overseeing separate meetings of the independent directors. Our co-founder Edward Fenster has served as Chairman since March 2014. The Board has three female members, including our CEO Lynn Jurich. 

Board Level Oversight of ESG

To ensure alignment with our mission, we created a formal committee of senior management to oversee Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) matters at the company, while also establishing board level oversight of ESG performance by our Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee.

Vendor Integrity and Ethics

We require our vendors to act with integrity and to adhere to our Vendor Code of Conduct. This Vendor Code of Conduct, along with Sunrun’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, prohibits undisclosed conflicts of interest, money-laundering, and whistleblower retribution.

Whistleblower Protection

Sunrun is committed to maintaining high standards of financial integrity and takes very seriously all complaints and concerns regarding accounting, internal accounting controls, auditing, and other legal matters, including violations of Sunrun’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. Sunrun prohibits retribution or retaliation in any way against any person who has in good faith made a complaint or reported a concern or against any person who assists in any investigation. Sunrun also requires that vendors strive to allow their workforces to raise similar concerns without fear of retaliation.

Sources and Notes

  1. Based on Sunrun’s monthly and prepaid lease customers using (i) estimated pre-solar utility bills minus (ii) estimated post-solar utility bills and any annualized payments to Sunrun through December 31, 2019.