daily · Clean Energy

Home battery pioneer sonnen files for insolvency two months after Shell divestment

German residential battery storage and virtual power plant company sonnen GmbH has filed for insolvency, Handelsblatt reported October 22, two months after Shell sold the business to investor TIVEN. Revenue fell from 443 million euros in 2023 to 198.9 million euros in 2024; roughly 400 employees were informed of the filing.

By Greener Numbers Editorial Team · Published October 23, 2026 · Updated 10/23/2026

German home energy storage and virtual power plant company sonnen GmbH, sold by Shell in August, has filed for insolvency, German newspaper Handelsblatt reported on October 22. The company informed its approximately 400 employees of the filing, two months after the business was acquired by TIVEN, the private investment vehicle of AURELIUS founding partner Gert Purkert.

Shell first invested 60 million euros in sonnen in 2018 before acquiring the company outright in 2019, when it held a leading share of the German residential battery storage market. In September 2023, Handelsblatt reported Shell was seeking buyers for a majority stake at a valuation of 1.35 to 1.8 billion euros, a process that concluded with the TIVEN acquisition.

Internal documents obtained by Handelsblatt show sonnen's revenue fell from 443 million euros in 2023 to 198.9 million euros in 2024, as the manufacturer faced lower-cost overseas battery competitors and slowing residential solar installations across Europe despite earlier cost-cutting measures that included unit closures and workforce reductions.

Under the restructuring, operational services for existing residential battery customers continue. In the United States, sonnen will continue to operate as Sonnen Intelligence GmbH, while the Spanish business remains as a service company for the time being.

Official source: Energy-Storage.news ↗