Bottom line: what Dave Bengel is likely worth in 2026
Based on publicly available signals about his career, business ownership, and the scale of his solar energy companies, Dave Bengel's estimated net worth in 2026 falls in the range of $1 million to $5 million. That range reflects his position as founder and CEO of Apricot Solar (operating since at least November 2016) and his documented leadership role at Pacific Green Energy, LLC. No verified salary figures, audited company revenues, or confirmed asset disclosures are publicly available, so this estimate is built from reasonable proxies: industry compensation benchmarks for solar company founders, the number of affiliated entities under his name, and the general scale of residential solar sales operations of this type. The estimate should be treated as a working approximation, not a confirmed figure.
Who Dave Bengel is and why the numbers vary
Dave Bengel is a solar energy entrepreneur based in the western United States. He is publicly identified as the Founder and CEO of Apricot Solar, LLC, a company he co-founded alongside Esther Bengel with a start date recorded on Crunchbase as November 2016. He is also listed as Managing Officer of Pacific Green Energy, LLC according to the company's Better Business Bureau profile, and The Org (an unverified aggregator) pegs his CEO role at Pacific Green Energy starting June 2017. Court records in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada connect the name David Bengel to a cluster of solar-related entities including Apricot Energy LLC, Apricot Holdings LLC, Nevada Solar Energy LLC, Pacific Green Energy LLC, Texas Solar Services LLC, and Florida Solar Energy LLC, which suggests a broader ownership structure than a single company.
The reason net worth numbers vary so much across different websites comes down to one core problem: there is essentially no verified public financial data on Dave Bengel. He is not a publicly traded company executive required to file compensation disclosures, and Apricot Solar is a private LLC with no public revenue filings. Sites that throw out specific numbers are typically working from the same thin pool of signals and filling gaps with assumptions, often without explaining those assumptions. Some sites copy each other, which multiplies a single guess into multiple "sources." The range offered here tries to be honest about that uncertainty.
How he earns: income sources and career history
Dave Bengel's primary income source is his role as Founder and CEO of Apricot Solar, LLC. In the residential solar industry, a company founder and CEO typically earns in one of two ways: a market-rate salary drawn from the business, and equity appreciation if the company is sold or recapitalized. For a private solar sales and installation company of Apricot Solar's apparent size, CEO compensation in the U.S. typically ranges from $80,000 to $250,000 annually, depending on company revenue, geography, and whether the founder takes a modest salary to reinvest in growth. There is no public salary disclosure for Bengel, so any specific figure within that range is an estimate.
His second documented income channel is Pacific Green Energy, LLC, where he holds the title of Managing Officer. Running two solar entities simultaneously suggests either a holding structure (where Pacific Green Energy is a parent or sibling company to Apricot Solar) or parallel sales operations targeting different markets. The court docket in Nevada names several geographically specific entities (Texas Solar Services LLC, Florida Solar Energy LLC, Nevada Solar Energy LLC) alongside Apricot Energy LLC and Apricot Holdings LLC, which is consistent with a multi-state expansion model common in the residential solar sector. If those entities generate revenue, Bengel's economic interest across all of them could be material.
A CBS Sacramento news investigation mentioned Dave Bengel in the context of court-filed declarations related to Apricot Solar's sales operations, which confirms the company was active enough in the California market to attract media coverage. A former-participant blog post also noted that Bengel personally announced compensation-plan changes to the company's sales team, which is consistent with him being an owner-operator rather than a passive investor. Neither of these sources provides revenue or income figures, but they do confirm active business operations.
Business ventures, ownership stakes, and what they signal about value
The most meaningful wealth signal for a private company founder is equity, not salary. If Apricot Solar and its affiliated entities have built a durable customer base, recurring service revenue, or a track record of installations, the equity Bengel holds could represent the largest single component of his net worth. Residential solar companies in the U.S. typically operate on gross margins of 20 to 40 percent on installation contracts, and recurring revenue from service agreements or referral networks can add to that baseline. Without audited financials, it is impossible to pin down company valuation, but a small-to-mid-size regional solar operation with multiple state presences could reasonably be valued anywhere from a few hundred thousand dollars to several million dollars.
The fact that the Nevada federal court docket names Bengel and his entities as parties in litigation is worth noting for completeness. Legal disputes are common in the solar industry (which has seen significant contractor and sales practice complaints nationally), and a lawsuit alone does not indicate financial distress. However, active litigation can affect business valuation and liquidity, so it is a factor that any honest estimate of net worth has to acknowledge. The outcome of that litigation is not publicly documented in the research available as of March 2026.
Crunchbase lists Apricot Solar with no disclosed funding rounds, which means the company has not raised venture capital or gone through a public valuation event. That limits how precisely anyone can estimate the company's worth, but it also means Bengel likely retains full or near-full ownership of the equity, rather than having diluted his stake through investor rounds.
Assets, lifestyle costs, and what actually counts toward net worth
Net worth is assets minus liabilities, and for a private business owner like Dave Bengel, the asset side is dominated by his equity stake in his companies. Personal real estate, vehicles, savings, and investment accounts would also count, but none of those are documented in any publicly available source. No property records, vehicle registrations, or investment disclosures tied to his name have surfaced in research available for this profile.
On the liability side, business debts, legal costs from ongoing litigation, and any personal guarantees on business loans would reduce the net figure. Again, none of this is publicly documented. What can be said is that running multiple solar LLCs involves real operating costs: sales staff, licensing, insurance, equipment, and marketing. Those costs reduce the cash available to Bengel personally and affect how much of the company's gross revenue translates into personal wealth.
For context, it helps to look at how other solar industry founders at a similar scale accumulate wealth. Many owner-operators in this space reinvest heavily in the early years, take modest personal compensation, and build net worth primarily through the long-term value of the business rather than short-term salary. That pattern is consistent with what the publicly available signals suggest about Bengel's career trajectory since 2016.
How the estimate is calculated: assumptions and ranges
Here is the straightforward breakdown of how the $1 million to $5 million range is constructed, and what would push it higher or lower.
| Component | Low Estimate | High Estimate | Basis |
|---|
| CEO compensation (accumulated since 2016) | $500,000 | $1,500,000 | Industry benchmark salary range, 9+ years |
| Equity value in Apricot Solar and affiliates | $300,000 | $3,000,000 | Private company estimate; no funding rounds disclosed |
| Personal real estate and savings | Unconfirmed | Unconfirmed | No public records available |
| Liabilities (litigation, business debts) | Unknown reduction | Unknown reduction | Active litigation flagged in Nevada federal docket |
| Net worth range (rough total) | $1,000,000 | $5,000,000 | Working estimate as of March 2026 |
The low end of the range assumes modest CEO pay, limited company equity growth, and meaningful liabilities. The high end assumes stronger business performance across multiple entities, meaningful equity accumulation, and lower personal liabilities. A major upward revision would be warranted if Apricot Solar or its parent entities were sold, recapitalized, or disclosed strong revenue publicly. A downward revision would be warranted if litigation resulted in significant financial judgments or if the business contracted materially.
How to verify this estimate and keep it current
If you want to go beyond this estimate and find harder data, there are several practical steps worth taking. Private LLC filings in Nevada, Texas, Florida, and other states where Bengel's entities are registered are often accessible through each state's Secretary of State business search portal. These records will confirm entity status, registered agents, and sometimes officer names, though they will not reveal revenue or profit figures.
- Search the Nevada Secretary of State business portal for Apricot Solar, LLC, Apricot Energy LLC, Apricot Holdings LLC, and Pacific Green Energy, LLC to verify current status and officer information.
- Check the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada's PACER system for updates on the Bengel et al v. Coutan et al docket, which may include financial declarations or settlement details filed in the public record.
- Review the Better Business Bureau profiles for both Apricot Solar and Pacific Green Energy, which are updated periodically and include complaint history that can signal business scale and operational status.
- Search Crunchbase for any newly disclosed funding rounds or valuation events for Apricot Solar or its parent entities.
- Monitor credible local business journalism in California, Nevada, Texas, and Florida for any interviews with Bengel or coverage of his companies that might include revenue or growth figures.
- Search county property records in Bengel's likely county of residence (cross-referenced against the company's registered address states) for real estate holdings, which are public record in most U.S. jurisdictions.
Net worth estimates for private-company founders like Bengel are inherently living documents. A business sale, a major contract win, a legal settlement, or a new funding round can shift the number significantly in either direction within a single year. This estimate reflects publicly available signals as of March 27, 2026, and should be revisited if any of those events occur. For comparison, the dynamics here are similar to those involved in profiling other private-company founders, where business equity dominates the wealth picture and confirmed figures are rare. A profile like David Bugliari's net worth illustrates how career role and industry context shape these estimates when hard financial disclosures are not available.
The most honest takeaway is this: Dave Bengel is a working solar entrepreneur who has been building and running multiple energy companies since at least 2016. The publicly available evidence is strong enough to confirm his roles and his multi-entity business structure, but too thin to produce a precise net worth figure. The $1 million to $5 million range is defensible given what is known, and it will narrow considerably if and when more financial data enters the public record.
