Your Solar Installer Went Out of Business? Why Your Equipment Warranty Is Still Alive

Nick Bame·August 21, 2026·6 min read

If you're reading this, chances are your solar installer went out of business and you're wondering what happens to your warranty.

Short answer: your manufacturer warranty is still valid. Your panels, inverter, optimizers, and battery are all covered by the companies that built them — not the company that installed them. Those manufacturers don't disappear when your installer does.

The problem isn't that your warranty is dead. The problem is nobody is left to file claims on your behalf, coordinate the repair, or actually do the work when something breaks. That's the gap we fill.

The installers who left customers stranded

Over the past three years, several of the largest solar installers in the country have filed bankruptcy and walked away from their customers:

Pink Energy (formerly PowerHome Solar) — collapsed 2022
Vision Solar — closed 2023
Titan Solar Power — closed 2024
ADT Solar (formerly Sunpro Solar) — exited the solar business 2024
Freedom Forever — filed Chapter 11 in 2026, one of the largest installers in the country

If your system was installed by any of these companies, you're what the industry calls an "orphaned" solar customer. You paid $30,000–$60,000+ for a system, the installer is gone, and now nobody returns your calls when the app shows your production dropped.

You are not alone. There are millions of homeowners in the same situation.

What your manufacturer warranty actually covers

Every reputable solar installation includes manufacturer warranties on the equipment itself. These are separate from anything your installer promised:

Solar panels: 25-year production warranty (Q Cells, REC, LG, Silfab, and others)
String inverters: 10–12 year standard, extendable to 25 (SolarEdge, Enphase)
Microinverters: 25-year warranty (Enphase IQ series)
Batteries: 10-year warranty (Tesla Powerwall, Enphase, Franklin, EG4, Generac)
Optimizers: 25-year warranty (SolarEdge)

These warranties are honored by the manufacturer regardless of who installed the system — as long as you have a certified installer of record who can file claims and coordinate the work.

That's where we come in.

How we become your installer of record — free

Southern Solar Pro is certified across most major manufacturers: Enphase, SolarEdge, Tesla, EG4, Generac, LG, Franklin and more. That certification lets us serve as your installer of record — the certified company that can file warranty claims and coordinate repairs on your behalf.

Here's how it works:

Sign up for free Basic monitoring at southernsolarmonitoring.com. No cost, no obligation.
Grant us monitoring access. For Enphase, we give you a link — one click to grant access and you're done. For SolarEdge, it's a short process we walk you through. For Generac and Tesla, you call the manufacturer directly to add us. Total time across all your equipment: usually under 5 minutes.
If your system is producing normally, that's it. We now have the access needed to file warranty claims and coordinate repairs when something breaks.
If your system has current issues, we'll schedule a diagnostic visit (or repair work at standard rates) first. Warranty coverage activates after we verify your system is functioning correctly — the manufacturer won't warranty a system that was already broken when we took over.

Important to understand: Basic monitoring is truly free, but it's not active watching. We're not calling you every time production dips. Basic means we have access if and when you need us — so when your app shows a fault, your power bill jumps, or something obviously breaks, you have a certified team you can call, and we can act quickly because we already have the access we need to file with the manufacturer.

If you want us actively watching your system so you don't have to, that's what our paid tiers are for.

What a manufacturer warranty does NOT cover — and what you lost when your installer went out of business

Here's what most orphaned customers don't realize: the manufacturer warranty only covers the part. It does not always cover the labor to diagnose the problem, remove the failed component, install the new one, and get your system back online.

Your original installer's workmanship warranty may have covered all of that. When they went bankrupt, that coverage disappeared.

Typical out-of-pocket labor costs for warranty work:

SolarEdge inverter replacement: $350–$500+
Enphase microinverter replacement: $250–$400 per unit
Optimizer replacement: $250–$400 each
Battery service call: $250–$450
Rooftop diagnostic: $150–$300

And that's assuming you can find someone willing to service equipment they didn't install — many local solar shops flat-out refuse, or charge premium rates because they know you have no other options.

You also lost your original installer's workmanship warranty entirely. We can't cover roof penetrations, wiring shortcuts, mounting hardware, or anything else your original installer did wrong. Those coverage gaps are permanent when an installer disappears. What we can do is take over everything the manufacturer covers — and, on our Pro+ Labor plan, cover the labor to do the work.

Our plans, briefly

Basic — Free (nationwide). Monitoring access so we can help when you need us. You call us if something goes wrong. Includes installer-of-record status for manufacturer warranty claims.
Pro — $9.99/mo (nationwide). Everything in Basic, plus we actively watch your system daily and alert you when we see something off.
Pro+ — $34.99/mo (GA and SC only). Everything in Pro, plus an annual on-site visit including panel cleaning and system inspection.
Pro+ Labor — $49/mo (GA and SC only). Everything in Pro+, plus zero labor cost on warranty repairs.

Pro+ Labor: the closest thing to the workmanship warranty you lost

For homeowners in Georgia and South Carolina, Pro+ Labor is the closest thing to the workmanship warranty you lost when your original installer disappeared.

For $49/month, you get:

Active daily monitoring
Annual on-site panel cleaning and system check
Zero labor cost when your equipment needs warranty repair

Here's what that looks like in practice: your SolarEdge inverter fails. We diagnose it, file the warranty claim, receive the replacement part from the manufacturer, and install it. Without this plan you'd pay $350–$500+, or much more at other companies, for the labor. With Pro+ Labor, you pay $0.

Given that most solar systems will need at least one inverter or optimizer replacement over their 25-year life, Pro+ Labor typically pays for itself the first time it's used.

Note: Pro+ Labor doesn't cover damage from outside causes (hail, squirrels, storm damage) or detach-and-reinstalls when you re-roof. It covers labor for manufacturer-warranty repairs specifically.

What to do next

If your installer went out of business — or you're just worried about who to call when something breaks — here's what to do:

Sign up for free Basic monitoring. No cost, no credit card. We'll walk you through giving us access to your manufacturer's monitoring portal. Details at southernsolarmonitoring.com.
If something's already broken, we can schedule a $149 diagnostic visit or repair work first. Warranty coverage activates once your system is verified functional.
If you want active monitoring so you don't have to check your app every week, upgrade to Pro ($9.99/mo, nationwide).
If you're in Georgia or South Carolina and want zero labor cost on warranty repairs, ask about Pro+ Labor ($49/mo).

Not sure if your equipment is on our supported list? Call us at (706) 204-9115 and we'll check for you.

Your system was designed to produce power for 25 years. Just because your installer didn't make it that long doesn't mean you shouldn't.