Mary Powell

Mary Powell serves as CEO of Sunrun, America's largest residential solar, battery storage, and energy services company with over 1 million customer subscribers. Sunrun installs and operates rooftop solar panel systems and increasingly battery storage systems (primarily Tesla Powerwall and Sunrun's own offerings) on residential homes across the United States. Sunrun's primary business model is a subscription/lease approach: Sunrun finances, installs, and owns the solar panel system on a customer's roof, and the homeowner pays Sunrun for the electricity produced — typically at rates lower than the local utility. This model eliminates the upfront cost barrier for homeowners and creates a long-term (20-25 year) recurring revenue stream for Sunrun. The company also offers direct purchase options and home solar loans. The residential solar market is driven by multiple factors: rising utility electricity prices (making solar economically attractive), federal tax credits (the Inflation Reduction Act extended the 30% solar investment tax credit through 2032), state incentive programs, battery storage value (providing backup power during outages and enabling energy arbitrage), and growing environmental awareness. Key stock drivers include customer acquisition costs, subscriber economics (net present value per customer), utility rate escalation, interest rates (which affect financing costs), ITC policy stability, battery attach rates, net metering regulations, and the competitive dynamics with Tesla Energy, SunPower, and other residential solar providers.