My Solar Company Went Out of Business. Now What?

A lot of solar companies have come and gone in the last several years. Some national installers and lenders have gone through bankruptcy, and several smaller Arkansas installers from the 2018 to 2022 boom have closed or rebranded. If your installer is one of them, you probably found out the hard way: a phone number that no longer works, a monitoring app that stopped updating, or a warranty problem with nobody to call.

The good news is that your system does not stop being serviceable just because the company that installed it is gone. Here is what to do.

First, Find Out Who Owns the System

• You own it outright. You paid cash or paid off a loan. You can hire anyone you want to service it.
• You financed it with a loan. You own the equipment, but you still owe a lender. If the installer failed, the loan usually stays with the lender or moves to a new servicer. Keep paying, and keep a record of who holds the loan now.
• You lease it or have a power purchase agreement. A third party owns the equipment. If that company went bankrupt, its contracts are usually sold to another company, which takes over the obligation to maintain the system. Watch for letters about a new servicer, and do not stop payments without legal advice.

Gather Your Paperwork

• Your contract and any change orders
• The equipment list: panel brand and model, inverter or microinverter brand, and racking
• Warranty documents
• Permit and utility interconnection paperwork
• Monitoring login details, if you have them

If you cannot find the equipment list, take clear photos of the inverter label and the label on the back of a panel. A technician can work from those.

Know Which Warranties Still Apply

Most solar systems come with two kinds of warranty, and they behave differently when an installer closes.

• Manufacturer warranties cover the panels, inverters, and sometimes the racking. They come from the equipment maker, not the installer, so they usually survive. Panel warranties often run 25 years, and inverter warranties 10 to 25 years depending on the product.
• Workmanship warranties cover the installation itself, including roof penetrations and wiring. These came from the installer, so when the installer is gone, that coverage usually goes with it.

Two caveats. A manufacturer warranty is only as good as the manufacturer, and a few panel makers have left the market too. And manufacturer warranties usually cover the replacement part, not the labor to swap it.

Manufacturers generally want a qualified installer to diagnose the problem and submit the claim. That is where a service company comes in.

Check Whether the System Is Actually Working

Plenty of orphaned systems have quietly underperformed for months because nobody was watching. Compare recent electric bills with the same months from a year or two ago. If the monitoring app still works, look for days with zero production or a slow decline. If the inverter has a display, check for fault codes or warning lights.

Common problems on orphaned systems include:

• Monitoring that lost its internet connection or was tied to the old installer's account
• Failed string inverters or individual microinverters
• Chewed or loose wiring under the array, often from squirrels
• Roof leaks at mounting points
• Labeling or disconnect issues that should have been caught at the original inspection

What a Service Company Can Do

A qualified solar service provider can take over most of what the original installer would have handled:

• Run diagnostics and find out why production is down
• File warranty claims with the equipment manufacturer and replace failed parts
• Reconnect monitoring and move the account into your name
• Repair wiring, mounting, and roof penetrations
• Remove and reinstall panels if you need a new roof
• Set up ongoing monitoring so the next problem gets caught early

Some companies will not work on systems they did not install, so ask up front.

When a Repair Is Not Worth It

Most orphaned systems are worth fixing. Occasionally the equipment is old, the parts are discontinued, and the repair costs more than the system will earn back. A good technician will tell you that plainly and walk you through options, such as replacing an old inverter with a current model.

Our Arkansas service team regularly takes on stranded systems, including ones we did not install. Send us a service request with your equipment details and a short description of the problem, and we will tell you what it will take to get it running again.