A partnership with Tesla sent the stock price of a small solar panel manufacturer soaring

Shares of Sunrun, a mid-cap manufacturer of solar panels and energy storage systems, jumped nearly 5% in premarket trading on June 25, continuing the previous day’s rally. The company announced a partnership with Tesla and virtual power plant operator Renew Home to supply electricity to data centers and utilities in the U.S.

Sunrun’s stock rose nearly 5% in premarket trading on June 25, after surging 13% the previous day. Investors reacted to the news of a partnership between Sunrun, Tesla, and Renew Home. Together, they plan to create a distributed power plant by combining hundreds of thousands of residential batteries operated by Sunrun and Tesla with 8 million thermostats controlled by Renew Home. The total capacity will be 16 gigawatts—which, according to Bloomberg, is enough to power approximately 12 million homes in the U.S.

The development of AI technologies has led to a sharp increase in demand for electricity, rising electricity costs, and long wait times for connection, the companies explain in a press release. The country’s power grid is designed to handle peak loads, but such periods are rare, and the infrastructure remains idle the rest of the time. A study by The Brattle Group shows that more efficient use could reduce electricity bills by $110–170 billion.

However, no single infrastructure solution will be able to quickly address the growing strain that data centers are placing on the country’s power grid, said Colby Hastings, Tesla’s senior director of energy for the residential sector. The partners believe that “a huge part of the solution lies in the batteries, thermostats, and electric vehicles found in millions of American homes.”

During peak hours at data centers, distributed power plants can be brought online, which will provide them with additional capacity while simultaneously reducing costs for households, Powell explains.

The solution requires no additional equipment, software, internet connection, water, or land, according to a Sunrun press release. It can be implemented in months rather than years and provides reserve capacity within the existing power grid, in part by reducing the strain on the distribution infrastructure.

The companies plan to provide capacity to data centers on a first-come, first-served basis; they have also offered capacity to PJM Interconnection, the largest power grid in the U.S., but PJM has not yet accepted the offer, according to the statement.

Over the past 12 months, Sunrun's stock price has soared by 100%, but since the beginning of 2026, it has fallen by nearly 22%.

The company's stock has 13 "buy" ratings from Wall Street analysts, 10 "hold" ratings, and one "sell" rating. The average target price is $19, which is 32% higher than the stock’s closing price on June 24.