By Eli Chavez
Source: Boston Business Journal
A Boston-based solar energy company acquired another local solar energy company to expand its offerings and its national reach.
Perch Energy, a community solar management company, has acquired Solstice Power Technologies LLC, a Cambridge-based community solar company with operations nationwide, including a recent expansion into New Mexico.
The acquisition follows Perch Energy’s recent merger with Arcadia Power Inc., a Colorado-based energy and utility software company. The merger of the two companies’ community-solar businesses formed a new standalone company in March 2025.
Solstice and its former parent company, MyPower, which is owned by Mitsui & Co. Ltd., will now hold an equity interest in the combined Perch entity, according to Bruce Stewart, CEO of Perch Energy.
Stewart declined to share specific financial terms of the deal.
Sandhya Murali, co-founder and CEO of Solstice, will assume the role of chief strategy and marketing officer, while the rest of the Solstice team will be brought under the Perch umbrella.
“The ability to combine and provide the best quality of service between our companies was really the mission,” said Stewart.
While Perch can provide community solar to such states as New York, Illinois and Massachusetts, Stewart says the company was not as strong in places like New Mexico, where Solstice has been establishing new projects.
The latest deal from Perch helps create a larger, better-funded community solar platform, according to Stewart. The combination of Perch’s existing 16-state footprint with Solstice’s presence in markets like New Mexico, Illinois and New York helps the company position itself to continue building and managing projects.
Part of that ability to continue building and managing projects stems from the company’s compliance with state regulations.
Community solar is driven by state-level policy, which varies across the country. Murali says that with its expanded footprint and combined expertise from decade-old community solar companies, Perch can expedite growth into new markets.
“We can really look at the best-in-class practices, from each of the states, to try and push that forward as legislative and regulatory processes emerge,” said Murali. “It’s been a long road in some of those states, but I think together we can have a bigger impact.”
The acquisition comes amid rising headwinds for clean energy companies and projects nationwide.
The Revolution Wind offshore wind project in Rhode Island, for example, has faced several challenges from the Trump administration. That project is finally set to get underway, and other projects are getting done. For example, an affiliate of NextGrid recently paid nearly $25 million to buy a public golf course in Massachusetts with a plan to close the course and install a 30-megawatt solar array. And Burlington-based FirstLight has expanded and extended its hydropower purchase agreement with Energy New England, a cooperative that represents municipal utilities.
Despite such headwinds, both Murali and Stewart remain confident that solar and community solar will continue to deliver benefits to the communities where the farms are installed.
“We’ll figure out how to continue to build projects and operate in this post-ITC world,” said Murali. “There are still a lot of really exciting activity happening at the state level.”