Who services my solar panels? A Maryland owner's guide

Who services your panels depends on who owns the system and which warranties are still running. If you own it, you’re responsible for maintaining it and can contract with a third party. If a company owns it, that company is primarily responsible. Work out which case you’re in, find the panel and inverter makers, then call providers.¹²³

We wrote this for Maryland homeowners. The ownership, records and access steps fit any system, but the license section covers Maryland only, so owners in the District of Columbia or Virginia should check their own regulators.

Who is responsible for servicing: owner, borrower or lessee?

The Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) says an owner is responsible for maintaining the system and may contract with a third party to do it. If you bought it, with cash or a loan, that’s you. If a company leases it to you or sells you its power, that company is primarily responsible. Read the contract before you book anyone.¹²

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) puts it plainly. When you own a system, you’re responsible for maintaining it or paying someone to, unless the seller built maintenance into the contract. With a lease, “the leasing company will probably be responsible for system maintenance.” That FTC page is dated April 2022.² MEA says the same about third-party owners: they are primarily responsible, though you may have some specific duties spelled out in the contract.¹

The table sorts the usual situations.

Your situation	Who is responsible	Check before hiring a servicer
You bought it outright	You	Any maintenance contract and any warranty condition on who may work on the system.¹²
You bought it with a loan	You, as the owner	The loan papers, for conditions on the equipment. The FTC treats a buyer as responsible for upkeep unless the contract says otherwise.²
You lease it or buy its power	The system owner	Who authorizes an outside visit and who pays. The FTC says to confirm who will do maintenance and repairs, and whether you pay for them.²
You bought a home with panels already on the roof	Depends on how the seller held the system, so check the closing papers	The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) says ownership should convey with the property if the seller bought outright or with a loan, while a third-party-owned system may need extra steps to transfer the contract.³

If the documents disagree about who owns what, settle that with the named parties before you approve any work. A dispute over a contract or a debt is a lawyer’s job. The table is for preparing, not for interpreting your contract. Our guide on buying a house with solar panels covers the closing-paperwork side.

Will a company that didn’t install your system work on it?

Each company decides for itself whether to work on equipment it didn’t install. DOE’s advice for a closed installer is to find the panel and inverter makers, then contact certified local installers to ask whether they know that equipment and can inspect the system.³

Soleil Energy’s monitoring and maintenance page says: “You don’t have to have bought from us.” It adds that it takes on arrays other companies installed, and for a closed installer it asks you to bring whatever paperwork you still have.⁴ Expect the first assessment to settle which equipment and which work are covered.

Whoever you call, get these answers before booking:

Which inverter and monitoring platform does the visit cover?
Who does any electrical work, and what license does that person hold?
Is the visit a remote review of your monitoring data, an on-site inspection, or both?
What happens if paperwork is missing or the monitoring account is locked?
Who contacts the manufacturer if a part looks defective?
Who handles the permit and utility steps if the work changes equipment?

How do you find out who installed your panels?

Paper first. Check your sale or closing documents, the commissioning report, equipment manuals and any utility or inspection notices. MEA’s consumer guide (January 2018) says an installer should provide a written commissioning report with system documentation and warranties.¹ DOE adds that the installation company can supply the system’s age, past maintenance and purchase terms.³

Permit records are the next stop. A county permit office keeps the record of past permits for an address. Montgomery County’s Department of Permitting Services runs an online data search that takes a street number and street name and lists the applications and permits for that address.⁵ The same department takes records requests under the Maryland Public Information Act and holds no records from before October 17, 1986, apart from well and septic records. It has no jurisdiction inside the city limits of Rockville or Gaithersburg, so for a property there contact the city directly.⁶ Other counties and cities run their own offices, so look on your county’s permit site for an equivalent.

A hypothetical example shows how the pieces fit. You buy a house with panels. The closing papers name no installer, and the monitoring account sits under the seller’s email address. A workable order:

Contact the seller for the commissioning report and warranty documents.
Find out whether the warranty change-of-ownership forms were completed.¹
Look up the address in the county permit office’s records.⁵
Ask the monitoring platform’s support how the account moves to you.
Call providers with the equipment makes and every record you found.

Leave label-reading to the technician. Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (SMECO) says never to walk on solar panels, and MEA calls troubleshooting “a job best left for a qualified solar professional.”⁷¹

What can a new provider do, and what waits on someone else?

A new provider can inspect and diagnose within its license scope. Three things sit outside its control: warranty claims, which belong to the warranty issuer; a locked monitoring account, which belongs to the account holder; and work on leased equipment, which belongs to the system owner. The table shows what each source says.

Item	Who decides	What the document says
Equipment warranty claim	The warranty issuer	MEA says the installer should handle equipment warranty claims, and an owner should claim “through the proper channels.” If a manufacturer closes, its warranty “may cease to exist.”¹
Installation warranty	The installer’s written terms	“The installation warranty may require the system to be maintained by the original installer.”¹
Warranty conditions	The warranty text	A national laboratory guide says a warranty “may be voided by mishandling or not observing instructions or conditions of the warranty.”⁸
Labor on a covered part	Your contract	The same guide says a manufacturer’s warranty “might cover replacement but not labor to remove, ship, and re-install.”⁸
Monitoring account	The account holder	On one major platform the homeowner grants and removes installer access in the app.⁹
Leased equipment	The system owner	See the ownership table above.²

Two cautions on that laboratory guide. It’s the National Laboratory of the Rockies, formerly the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and its December 2018 operations and maintenance guide is written mostly for larger plants. The warranty points above come from its list of reasons lenders distrust manufacturer warranties, so read them as general principles, not a residential rulebook.⁸ For more on warranty layers, see our guide to how solar panel warranties work.

A new company isn’t your warranty issuer unless it says so. Get its answer in writing on whether it warrants its own labor and parts.

Records worth gathering before you call

The laboratory guide says a provider “must know what equipment was installed initially and any changes that have been made since.” If those records are missing, it says they “should be created (complete set of as-built drawings) at the cost of the asset owner.”⁸ That makes one question worth raising early: will recreating records be priced apart from the visit?

Record	Why it helps
Purchase, lease or service agreement	Names the owner, the service contact and who pays for repairs.²
Equipment list with makes, models and serial numbers	The laboratory’s document checklist asks for it.⁸
Plans and inspection reports	The checklist includes as-built drawings and inspection reports.⁸
Warranty documents and past claims	Also on the checklist.⁸
Past service reports and manufacturer letters	Show what was already tried.⁸
Dated monitoring screenshots	Show the history you want reviewed. Leave the password out of them.

“My panels failed” gives a technician little to work with. “The app stopped updating on a given date, and the router was replaced the week before” gives them a lead. Write down what you saw and when, and leave the diagnosis to the visit. If the symptom is a dead app screen, our guide on what to do when solar monitoring goes offline helps you describe it.

How do you give a new provider monitoring access?

Grant access through the platform’s own approval process, and never share your password. Give the provider the narrowest role it needs, confirm who it is first, and remove the access when the work ends. Platforms differ in the details, so check your own platform’s support pages.

Monitoring makers each handle this their own way. One major microinverter maker’s app is a useful example. The homeowner opens an access-control screen, enters an installer company’s email address and taps Grant Access, then can pick that company as system maintainer. The app rejects an email address that isn’t matched to a registered installer company, and the same screen lets the owner hide consumption data or remove a company’s access.⁹ An installer can also send an access request, which the owner approves as view-only or maintainer.¹⁰ Those steps apply to that maker’s systems. Check your own platform’s support pages for its version.

When you set up access:

Confirm the provider’s company name and the email on its platform account through a contact you trust.
See whether view-only access is enough for a first review before granting maintainer rights.
Approve only the role the provider asks for, and approve it through the platform.
Note the date and role, and remove the access when the work ends.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency says keeping passwords confidential makes it harder for an unauthorized person to reach your information (revised November 18, 2019).¹¹

A lapsed monitoring subscription can look like a dead system. MEA notes that many service providers offer an initial period of free monitoring followed by renewal periods.¹ If you can’t get into the account, go to the platform’s official support. A contractor’s willingness to visit doesn’t give it authority to move an account or pull history.

Two licenses, two lookups in Maryland

Maryland splits home work across licenses. The Maryland Home Improvement Commission (MHIC) licenses contractors, and state law defines home improvement to include repair or replacement on a home.¹² Separately, the State Board of Electricians licenses electrical work at the apprentice, journeyperson and master levels.¹³¹⁴ Find out who does each part of the job, then look both up.

Since July 1, 2021, the State Board issues the license that allows someone to do electrical work in Maryland. Local jurisdictions no longer issue those licenses, though they can still require registrations, permits, fees and inspections.¹⁴ The Board’s public notice says unlicensed electrical work is illegal and links to its Maryland Electricians License Search.¹³ Montgomery County’s permitting page makes the same point: all electrical licenses there are now issued solely by the State.¹⁵

The Commission says a home improvement license doesn’t authorize electrical, heating and cooling, or plumbing work, and its home page offers a license-status check for contractors and salespersons.¹⁶¹⁷ Whether your particular service call counts as home improvement is a question for the Commission. Our guide on checking a solar contractor’s license in Maryland walks through the lookups.

Two limits on what a license tells you. The Commission says its Guaranty Fund “applies only to work done by licensed contractors.”¹⁷ And a license isn’t proof of solar experience. The laboratory guide notes that “most electricians are unfamiliar and untrained to deal with DC-based PV systems,” where PV means photovoltaic and DC means direct current.⁸ Ask what experience the person has with your equipment.

Permits are the other trap. The Commission reports that some homeowners “have been fined or have been required to have the work removed due to a contractor’s failure to obtain the proper permits.”¹⁶ Find out who pulls any permit before work begins. The laboratory guide adds that when a warranty settlement adds modules, expanding the system’s “nameplate” capacity “would generally trigger a new interconnect agreement and permitting.”⁸

What should you get in writing after the first visit?

Agree the scope before anyone arrives. A first visit can review the equipment, the paperwork, the monitoring history and your reported problem. It should end with a written handover, so ask for one before the visit rather than after it. The handover should cover:

The equipment the technician identified, with makes and models.
The records and monitoring data reviewed.
What the technician found, and what it couldn’t check.
Any repair, with its cost and approval stated apart from the visit.
Who contacts the manufacturer if a claim is possible.
Who receives alerts afterward.

The laboratory guide supports keeping inspection reports and a log of corrective action, including “who did the work with contact information.”⁸ A records review and an inspection answer different questions. Drawings show what was documented. Monitoring shows the data one account can see. Only a visit shows what’s on the roof and in the equipment today, so expect the technician to flag gaps between the paperwork and what could be checked. If your real problem is low output, not a missing account, read why a solar system stops producing.

Panels stay energized in daylight. SMECO says “as long as the sun is shining, solar panels will stay energized,” and says to call 911 in an emergency and tell responders you have solar.⁷

Cases that change the plan

If this is true	Then
The system is leased or under a power purchase agreement	The owner usually maintains it, so contact the owner before any outside visit.¹²
The installation warranty names the original installer	Read it before another company touches the system.¹
The manufacturer has closed	Its warranty “may cease to exist.”¹
The fix involves adding capacity	A new interconnect agreement and permits may follow.⁸
You want a battery added	That’s a separate job from fixing a fault. Soleil Energy’s battery retrofit information says the existing inverter decides how simple an addition is.¹⁸
You live in the District of Columbia or Virginia	Check your own contractor and electrician rules.

Where should you start?

Know who owns the system, gather the records you have, and hold off on approving work until the scope is in writing. Then give two or three providers the same notes so their answers are easy to compare. A provider that says it can’t service your equipment has given you useful information too.

Describe the concern and bring the records you have. Request a system assessment or call (301) 953-4140.

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

Sources (18)

Maryland Energy Administration, A Maryland Consumer’s Guide to Solar, published January 2018, pages 26 and 38 to 43, https://energy.maryland.gov/residential/Documents/A%20Maryland%20Consumers%20Guide%20to%20Solar%20LR72dpi.pdf; read October 25, 2026. Used for ownership, warranty and safety principles only. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³
Federal Trade Commission, Solar Power for Your Home, https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/solar-power-your-home; page dated April 2022; archived copy captured October 15, 2026 (https://web.archive.org/web/20261015121826/https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/solar-power-your-home), the copy read on October 25, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹
U.S. Department of Energy, A Consumer’s Guide to Buying a House with Solar Panels, https://www.energy.gov/cmei/systems/consumers-guide-buying-house-solar-panels; current page, undated, read October 25, 2026. Used for installer-closure, ownership and records guidance only. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Soleil Energy, Solar Monitoring & O&M, https://soleilenergycorp.com/renewable-energy/monitoring-and-om/; current page, undated, read October 25, 2026. ↩
Montgomery County Department of Permitting Services, Online Services - Data Search, https://permittingservices.montgomerycountymd.gov/dps/online/esearch.aspx; current page, undated, read October 25, 2026. A county example, not a statement about any other office. ↩ ↩²
Montgomery County Department of Permitting Services, DPS Records Request Process, https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/department-permitting-services/about-us/divisions/customer-support-outreach-division/dps-records-request-process; current page, undated, read October 25, 2026. ↩
Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative, Solar Panels, https://www.smeco.coop/safety/solar-panels/; current page, undated, read October 25, 2026. ↩ ↩²
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (now the National Laboratory of the Rockies) and partners, Best Practices for Operation and Maintenance of Photovoltaic and Energy Storage Systems, third edition, December 2018, sections 6.4, 6.7.1 and 8.2, https://docs.nlr.gov/docs/fy19osti/73822.pdf; read October 25, 2026. Written mostly for larger plants; used for general principles, not as a residential rulebook. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹²
Enphase, Adding a PV system maintainer using the Enphase App, https://support.enphase.com/s/article/adding-a-pv-system-maintainer-using-the-enphase-app; published September 16, 2025, read October 25, 2026. Applies to Enphase systems only. ↩ ↩²
Enphase, How to request system access using the Enphase Installer Portal, https://support.enphase.com/s/article/how-to-request-system-access-using-the-enphase-installer-portal; published April 7, 2025, read October 25, 2026. Owner approval and access types only. ↩
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Choosing and Protecting Passwords, https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/news/choosing-and-protecting-passwords; revised November 18, 2019, read October 25, 2026. ↩
Maryland General Assembly, Business Regulation Article, section 8-101 (definition of home improvement), https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gbr&section=8-101&enactments=false; current statute text, read October 25, 2026. ↩
Maryland State Board of Electricians, https://labor.maryland.gov/license/elec/; current page, undated, read October 25, 2026. Public notice and license-search link. ↩ ↩²
Maryland Department of Labor, State Board of Electricians, Other Electrical Licenses in Maryland, https://labor.maryland.gov/license/elec/elecotherlic.shtml, and Maryland Electricians Act (Senate Bill 762, Chapter 708 of 2021) notice, https://www.labor.maryland.gov/license/elec/elecnamech.shtml; current pages, undated (the Act took effect July 1, 2021), read October 25, 2026. The Act repealed local authority to license master, journeyperson and apprentice electricians, requires a State license to offer or provide electrical services, and lets localities keep permits, fees, inspections and registrations. ↩ ↩²
Montgomery County Department of Permitting Services, Electrical & Mechanical Codes, Licenses and Permits, https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/department-permitting-services/codes/electrical-mechanical-codes-licenses-permits; current page, undated, read October 25, 2026. ↩
Maryland Home Improvement Commission, Understanding Maryland’s Licensing Requirements for Green Technology, https://labor.maryland.gov/license/mhic/mhicgreen.shtml; current page, undated, read October 25, 2026. Used for license scope and the permit warning. The page’s line about electrician licenses being issued locally predates the July 1, 2021 State licensing change (Senate Bill 762, Chapter 708 of 2021). ↩ ↩²
Maryland Home Improvement Commission, home page, https://labor.maryland.gov/license/mhic/; current page, undated, read October 25, 2026. ↩ ↩²
Soleil Energy, Battery Storage & Retrofits, https://soleilenergycorp.com/renewable-energy/battery-storage/; current page, undated, read October 25, 2026. ↩

Who services my solar panels if another company installed them?