Direct Energy Solar, a US-based solar energy company has announced closure of its office in Columbia, Maryland, a decision that makes 108 employees redundant.
The company, which in 2015 reported to have 145 employees in Columbia, confirmed in the Texas’ Work Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) log that it would carry out layoffs due to the closure of a plant.
The Columbia office has also been serving as Direct Energy Solar’s corporate headquarters.
According to Direct Energy Solar, the layoffs are a result of a change in the business model with the company deciding to shift from making residential installations. It will instead look to work on community solar projects and also on developing energy storage systems.
It added that the change in its strategy would let it focus more on enhancing its commercial business.
Direct Energy Solar was quoted by The Baltimore Sun as saying: "We will continue to give our commercial and industrial customers more choices and solutions to manage their energy with a range of service capabilities, including solar design and installation, operations and maintenance, and distributed energy resource options.”
The energy company though said that it will continue to honor all existing commitments with its customers for various services like offering maintenance for existing solar installations.
Direct Energy Solar, which is located in the Howard County, was formerly known as Astrum Solar, a company founded in 2008. In July 2014, it was acquired by Houston-based Direct Energy and in April 2015, was rebranded as Direct Energy Solar.
For Direct Energy, the acquisition of Astrum Solar then marked its foray in the US residential solar market.