YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
Springfield-based solar energy business Sun Solar LLC has sold a 40% stake in the company.
Marlborough, Massachusetts-based ConnectM Technology Solutions Inc. (OTC: CNTM) earlier this month announced the acquisition of the minority stake. While the companies did not disclose the financial terms of the deal, ConnectM officials say the transaction is expected to increase its shareholders’ equity by about $6.5 million.
Through the deal, ConnectM division Keen Labs Operations Inc. will supply solar panels, batteries and other equipment to Sun Solar. Additionally, ConnectM’s Northeast solar operations will be consolidated under the Sun Solar brand as Sun Solar Northeast, with plans to deploy additional capital to solar and storage installation in the region.
Caleb Arthur, founder and CEO of Sun Solar, said mutual industry connections introduced his company to ConnectM last year, noting initial discussions about equipment purchases went deeper over a four-month period leading up to the acquisition.
“We’re always looking for different opportunities,” Arthur said, adding the 40% was ConnectM’s original offer. “If you look at their company and what they’re doing, they’re pretty heavy in (artificial intelligence) and software, even though they have these Keen [Labs] heat pumps and their other stuff.”
Arthur said battery storage also is part of ConnectM’s home energy offerings.
Nayeem Hussain, ConnectM’s president of corporate development and head of investor relations, said the 2019-founded company’s substantial stake reflects its confidence in the Sun Solar team to continue to execute its business plan.
“Fundamentally, Sun Solar knows how to win customers and get projects done,” Hussain said via email. “That is what drew us in. Pair their footprint with ConnectM’s tech, and you get ready-to-go solar plus storage bundles with smarter monitoring and strong cross-selling opportunities.”
In the short-term, ConnectM expands its distributed energy reach and finds an immediate distribution partner for Keen Labs, Hussain said, adding he sees the relationship as a path to scale.
“Sun Solar gets differentiated products, and we get a strong distribution engine,” he said.
Running lean
The deal comes as Arthur said Sun Solar’s payroll is running lean. The company made a deal for undisclosed terms last September to partner with a subcontractor, Columbia, Illinois-based EWD Solar Solutions, to take over its solar installation operations.
“So, right now, we have around 55 employees that are on Sun Solar’s payroll, and the rest of our employees got transferred over to a different company,” he said, noting around 65 of its former employees – mostly project coordinators and installers – now work for EWD. “We have master contracts in place between the two of us.”
Arthur said Sun Solar’s employees now comprise sales, financing, human resources and accounting departments. He said last year the company employed over 120 employees, including around 85 in Springfield.
“I thought it’d be a good opportunity for us to have more fixed costs in our business,” he said, noting last year was the most profitable for the company in its 13-year history. “That allowed us to greatly reduce our payroll and overhead and have a partner in place.”
Operational plans
Arthur said he will remain active in scaling operations for Sun Solar and expects his business travel schedule will increase.
“The desire I had was for me to be able to continue working in the business, leading the company and the company’s growth, and then just ensuring that we have a good plan in place for our customers, but also our team members,” he said.
He said growth plans for the company in the Northeast, including adding any offices beyond the four in operation, are still to be determined. Besides its Springfield headquarters, Sun Solar has offices in Kansas City and Houston in Missouri and in Cahokia Heights, Illinois.
“We’re definitely going to be doing expansion up there and usually with expansion comes office space, so I could definitely see that happening,” he said. “But I can’t make any promises of what that looks like yet. I’m a hands-on type of guy, so I got to go see what’s there.”
Sun Solar was among four Springfield-area companies that made last year’s Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the United States. It ranked No. 4,673 on the list for 2025, with 65% three-year revenue growth. Sun Solar previously reported to Springfield Business Journal its 2023 revenue was $51 million. However, Arthur declined to disclose the company’s past two years of revenue.
“The days of me just shooting from the hip, saying whatever I want to as a private company have been tampered down a little bit,” he said.
In the third quarter, ConnectM reported a roughly 45% revenue increase to approximately $8.7 million, Hussain said, adding the company is still finalizing fourth-quarter numbers with its auditor. The company’s quarterly net loss was $1 million, which compared with a net loss of roughly $9.9 million in the same quarter of 2024, according to a news release.
ConnectM’s over-the-counter stock closed Jan. 14 at roughly 33 cents per share, compared with a 52-week range of 10 cents to $1.35 per share.
Plant possibilities
Arthur said his company is currently buying its solar panels from Qcells, the U.S. solar manufacturing subsidiary of Korea’s Hanwha Solutions, as an alternative to purchasing equipment made in China. While first announcing plans in 2023 to launch a manufacturing plant, Arthur delayed that project the following year, according to past reporting. Now, he’s uncertain if opening a plant will ever materialize.
“I don’t know if I’ll get into manufacturing now that some of these guys like Qcells have been doing it,” he said. “I think that’ll be a strategic-type conversation that I have to have with investment partners in the future, just to see where the industry’s headed.”
Arthur said he’s bolstered by the support from ConnectM and is excited about this next chapter in his company.
“I guess that just reinforces that I am navigating the business in a good way and that I just need to keep my head up and keep doing that,” he said. “Sometimes you kind of get stuck in these bubbles and you wonder how well you’re doing. If anything, it just kind of made me feel better about all the hard work that our team members have been doing at Sun Solar over the years.”
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