Solar company went out of business? What to do next

A closed installer doesn’t automatically end your warranties. Gather your contract and warranty papers, find out who issued each warranty, and contact the equipment makers about product claims. Ask your utility about any approval that wasn’t finished, and get the system diagnosed before you agree to repairs.^1,2

An orphaned system is one whose original installer no longer supports it. Your first call depends on the problem. Start with the records you can reach from your desk, and leave electrical troubleshooting to a qualified solar professional.³

What paperwork should you gather first?

Build a system file before you call anyone: the signed contract, payment records, equipment warranties, and any inspection or utility notices. Add monitoring screenshots and every message you exchanged with the installer. If something is missing, work from what you have and ask each agency or provider which records it can retrieve.^4,1

1. Find the parties. Name the installer, the equipment manufacturers, and any lender or system owner.
2. Keep evidence. Hold on to invoices, messages, dated app screenshots and photographs. Send copies in complaints and keep the originals.
3. Write down the problem. Note when support stopped and whether you’re dealing with lost app access, a fault or unfinished work.
4. List missing approvals. Find the permit number, inspection result, utility application number and any written operating authorization.
5. Start a contact log. Record whom you reached, the case number and the next document they asked for.

The Maryland Home Improvement Commission (MHIC) asks complainants to attach the contract and proof of payment. It also wants emails and other correspondence, and it accepts photographs, an engineer’s inspection report and other evidence of workmanship.⁴ The paperwork and photos you already have are enough to start.

Who stands behind the warranties now?

Check who issued each written warranty, because panel, inverter and installation coverage can come from different companies. The Maryland Energy Administration’s (MEA) January 2018 consumer guide says a warranty is only as good as the company behind it, and that a manufacturer’s coverage may end if the manufacturer closes.²

The same guide says an installation warranty may require the original installer to maintain the system.² So part of your coverage may be gone while part is still good. Sort it by issuer before you decide anything. For how these warranties normally work, see solar panel warranties explained.

Before you authorize a repair, ask about diagnosis and labor charges, travel and shipping, and get the answers in writing. A manufacturer’s approval of a replacement part isn’t an agreement to pay the whole service bill.

Don’t pick the warranty from the symptom. A wet ceiling could fall under a roof warranty, a workmanship agreement or a homeowner’s policy, and you can’t tell which until someone finds the cause. Keep your photos and records, and arrange a professional assessment. Roof leak under solar panels covers who investigates and who may be responsible.

How do you get monitoring and repairs back?

Treat this as two jobs. One is account access: getting your production data back on a screen you control. The other is equipment diagnosis. A locked-out app can sit on top of a healthy inverter, so keep the two apart.

For access, contact the monitoring platform’s support team. Ask who controls the account today, whether support can transfer it to you, and whether monitoring now needs its own subscription. If the platform lets you, copy your production history before anything changes. Whoever you hire next will want that history.

For diagnosis, describe the real symptom: an inverter fault code, a communication dropout, missing production. Don’t ask for a whole-system replacement before someone has found the cause. The MEA guide notes that voltages inside an inverter can reach 600 volts DC and calls troubleshooting a job for a qualified solar professional.³ The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) suggests that when the original installer is gone, you identify the panel and inverter manufacturers and ask local installers whether they know those makes and can inspect the system.¹

Here’s an example. You own your system outright, the portal won’t let you in, and the utility already authorized operation. Start with account recovery, then a diagnostic inquiry. If you lease the equipment instead, call the owner first, since the lease or power purchase agreement is what spells out who may service it.

Soleil Energy’s solar monitoring and maintenance service lists inverter faults, string failures and communication dropouts among the problems it diagnoses and repairs.⁵ A string is a connected group of solar panels. For a wider look at who can service a system, see who services my solar panels. If the system includes storage, gather those records too, because a battery inquiry is a different decision from a repair assessment. See battery storage.

What if the installer closed before the utility signed off?

Permission to operate (PTO) is the utility’s go-ahead to run the system. If the installer vanished before you got it, call your electric utility’s interconnection team and the office that issued the installation permit. Ask each for the application’s status and missing documents, and how to change the contractor contact.^6,7

An installation approval isn’t permission to operate, so the PTO notice is the document to look for. Before you pay anyone to finish the job, get answers to four questions:

• Which inspections or completion documents are missing?
• Does the permit office require a new contractor to amend the permit?
• What does the utility need to change the application contact?
• Has the utility issued written operating authorization, or only approval to install?

For a Pepco customer in Maryland, the contractor files the application online and completes a second part after installation. Pepco then does a final review and emails PTO to the customer and contractor.⁶ Maryland’s Level 1 rule sets a 20-business-day clock for the utility to issue PTO once it has acceptable documents and the other conditions are met. The Public Service Commission proposed amendments to that chapter in September 2026, and Pepco solar interconnection and permission to operate explains where things stand.⁷ For a BGE system, see BGE solar interconnection.

In the District of Columbia, the Department of Buildings (DOB) says a separate electrical permit is needed for installation. For its instant solar permit on one- and two-family homes, DOB says final inspections must be completed within one year of permit issuance, so check your permit date if the job stalled. Call DOB about the permit record and any contractor change.⁸ Outside DC, contact the authority that issued your permit. A replacement contractor can’t decide whether your utility has granted operating permission.

What if a lender or lease company owns part of the deal?

If someone else financed or owns the system, tell them about the closure. Contact the lender, lease company or system owner named in your agreement and ask for written instructions about service and payment. Get advice specific to your contract before you change payments or authorize work on equipment someone else owns.^9,10

For a lease or power purchase agreement (a contract to buy the system’s electricity), identify the owner and who is responsible for maintenance. DOE notes that a third-party-owned system may need extra steps to transfer the contract.⁹ For a loan, ask the servicer how to submit a dispute with supporting evidence.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) takes complaints about financial products and services, including loans and debt collection, and sends them to the company for a response.¹⁰ A complaint is not a cancellation of your contract. We’d be wary of anyone who promises debt cancellation before reading your documents.

Where can you complain in Maryland, DC and Virginia?

Each state splits the work differently. Take the transaction itself to the consumer agency, take licensing or workmanship problems to the contractor regulator, and ask separately about compensation funds. A complaint is a request for review, so it may not get you a repair or a payment.^11,12,13,14

How do the Maryland and Virginia funds compare?

Maryland and Virginia each run a fund paid for by licensed contractors. The rules differ a lot, so check the deadlines that apply to you with the fund office or an attorney.

Two cautions. Virginia’s DPOR says a filed claim is not a promise of payment.¹⁷ And in Maryland, the Commission says a complaint and a Guaranty Fund claim are separate filings with separate forms, while section 8-405(g) sets the claim period at three years after the claimant discovered, or should have discovered, the loss.^16,19 If the contractor in Virginia has filed bankruptcy, DPOR says you must first file a claim with the bankruptcy court.¹⁷ Talk to a qualified attorney about your contract, your claim deadlines and your rights. For more on how the Maryland fund works, see roof leak under solar panels.

Can Soleil Energy look at a system another company installed?

Soleil Energy’s monitoring page says it will service a system it didn’t install. Its FAQ answers “My installer has gone out of business. Can you help?” with “Usually,” and asks for whatever paperwork you still have.⁵ An assessment shows whether your equipment and the work you need fit the service. It isn’t a promise to take over every system.

Some situations need a separate answer: a manufacturer that has also closed, a leased system that needs the owner’s authorization, a monitoring platform you can’t get into, unfinished permits, or a roof leak that needs a roofing assessment. Soleil Energy’s frequently asked questions give more context.

Start with the folder

Start with the folder: collect the paperwork, sort the warranties by issuer, and find out whether the utility ever signed off. Then decide who should look at the equipment. Complaints and fund claims run on their own clocks, so don’t let a repair question push them aside.

Request a system assessment for a Maryland system, or call (301) 953-4140.

This guide is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice.

Sources (19)

1. U.S. Department of Energy, “A Consumer’s Guide to Buying a House with Solar Panels,” published April 19, 2023 and last modified April 26, 2023 (what to do if the original installer is no longer in business); page read October 25, 2026. https://www.energy.gov/cmei/systems/consumers-guide-buying-house-solar-panels ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. Maryland Energy Administration and Clean Energy States Alliance, “A Maryland Consumer’s Guide to Solar,” January 2018, Warranties, page 43; PDF read October 25, 2026. https://energy.maryland.gov/residential/Documents/A%20Maryland%20Consumers%20Guide%20to%20Solar%20LR72dpi.pdf ↩ ↩² ↩³

3. Maryland Energy Administration and Clean Energy States Alliance, “A Maryland Consumer’s Guide to Solar,” January 2018, Monitoring Your System, pages 39 to 40; PDF read October 25, 2026. https://energy.maryland.gov/residential/Documents/A%20Maryland%20Consumers%20Guide%20to%20Solar%20LR72dpi.pdf ↩ ↩²

4. Maryland Department of Labor, “How to File a Complaint FAQs,” Maryland Home Improvement Commission, current page (undated), read October 25, 2026. https://labor.maryland.gov/license/mhic/mhicfaqcomp.shtml ↩ ↩² ↩³

5. Soleil Energy, “Monitoring & O&M,” current page (undated), read October 25, 2026. https://soleilenergycorp.com/renewable-energy/monitoring-and-om/ ↩ ↩²

6. Pepco, “Interconnection Application Process,” current page (undated; it loads its content with JavaScript), read October 25, 2026. https://www.pepco.com/SmartEnergy/MyGreenPowerConnection/Pages/HowtoApply.aspx ↩ ↩²

7. Code of Maryland Regulations 20.50.09.09, “Level 1 Review,” Library of Maryland Regulations, current text read October 25, 2026. The Public Service Commission has proposed amendments to this chapter (Maryland Register, September 18, 2026). https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/20.50.09.09 ↩ ↩²

8. District of Columbia Department of Buildings, “Solar Panel,” current page (undated), read October 25, 2026. https://dob.dc.gov/service/solar-panel-0 ↩

9. U.S. Department of Energy, “A Consumer’s Guide to Buying a House with Solar Panels,” published April 19, 2023 and last modified April 26, 2023 (ownership structure, third-party-owned systems); page read October 25, 2026. https://www.energy.gov/cmei/systems/consumers-guide-buying-house-solar-panels ↩ ↩²

10. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, “Submit a complaint,” page last modified October 5, 2026; read October 25, 2026. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/ ↩ ↩²

11. Maryland Department of Labor, “Maryland Home Improvement Commission,” current page (undated), read October 25, 2026. https://labor.maryland.gov/license/mhic/ ↩ ↩² ↩³

12. Maryland Office of the Attorney General, “Business Complaints,” current page (undated), read October 25, 2026. https://oag.maryland.gov/i-need-to/Pages/business-complaints.aspx ↩ ↩²

13. District of Columbia Office of the Attorney General, “Submit a Consumer Complaint,” current page (undated), read October 25, 2026. https://oag.dc.gov/consumer-protection/submit-consumer-complaint ↩ ↩²

14. Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, “File a Complaint,” current page (undated), read October 25, 2026. https://www.dpor.virginia.gov/Report-Licensee/ ↩ ↩²

15. Virginia Office of the Attorney General, “File a Complaint,” current page (undated), read October 25, 2026. https://www.oag.state.va.us/consumer-protection/index.php/file-a-complaint ↩

16. Maryland General Assembly, Business Regulation Article section 8-405 (Guaranty Fund recovery, limits and claim period), current online text read October 25, 2026. https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gbr&section=8-405&enactments=false ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

17. Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, “Contractor Transaction Recovery Fund,” current page (undated), read October 25, 2026. https://www.dpor.virginia.gov/Boards/Contractors_Recovery_Fund/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

18. Code of Virginia, Virginia Contractor Transaction Recovery Act, sections 54.1-1118 (definitions), 54.1-1120 (recovery from the Fund) and 54.1-1123 (limits on recovery), current online text dated October 24, 2026 on the Virginia Law site, read October 25, 2026. https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title54.1/chapter11/section54.1-1120/ ↩ ↩² ↩³

19. Maryland Home Improvement Commission, “File a Complaint” (separate Guaranty Fund claim form; three-year claim period), current page (undated), read October 25, 2026. https://labor.maryland.gov/license/mhic/mhiccomp.shtml ↩