Solar system underperforming, installer out of business: start here

When your solar system is underperforming and the installer is out of business

If your solar system is underperforming and the installer is out of business, the panels are still on your roof and the problem is still yours. A System Health Check gets your data back, measures your system against what it should produce, and gives you a short list for a licensed technician. You’ll have it within seven business days of restoring data access. It works the same for a homeowner in Louisville, a church in Pikeville or a shop in Bowling Green.

First, find out who owns what

Before anyone pays for a truck roll, sort out ownership.

• Owned with cash or a loan. You can hire any licensed service company. If your loan servicer changed hands, the new one is worth a call too.
• Leased or under a PPA. Someone still owns the system, and that owner generally carries the maintenance obligation. After SunPower’s 2024 bankruptcy, for example, legacy lease and PPA customers were directed to a separate servicing company.
• Warranties. Manufacturer equipment warranties attach to the hardware, not the installer. You’ll need model and serial numbers and proof of the install date, which we help you assemble.

Recovering monitoring access

Most residential monitoring runs on the inverter or microinverter manufacturer’s platform, not the installer’s. We identify your equipment from your documents and label photos. Then we work with you through the manufacturer’s owner support to reclaim or re-register the account. We don’t touch hardware. If a gateway needs replacing, that’s a technician visit. If monitoring can’t come back, your utility’s meter data still supports a baseline.

Building the baseline

We model expected production from your location, tilt, orientation, shading notes and the actual weather for each month you’re asking about. Then we compare. A system that’s 10% low doesn’t look broken. It looks like a cloudy year, and over ten years it can quietly cost a meaningful slice of the savings you were promised.

Is it the system or the proposal?

This is the question most owners never get to ask. Some systems that feel like they’re underperforming are working fine against physics. It was the original production estimate that was optimistic. A technician can’t fix a sales estimate. So we compare your output with both the baseline and the proposal, and tell you which one is off before you spend money on a service call.

What the technician list looks like

You’ll get plain, specific items. For example: one string produces near zero on clear days since a storm, so check that string’s connections and protection. Or: output flattens every summer afternoon, so ask whether the inverter is limiting on heat. You’ll also see what not to pay for, such as panel cleaning when the data shows soiling isn’t the issue.

Theo Okafor leads every health check. For the full owner’s checklist, read your solar installer went out of business, and see the monitoring metrics that matter. If you own several systems, portfolio performance reporting keeps watch every month. Existing clients can reach us at support@center4solar.com.