Navigating purchasing an exisiting home with a solar loan

[SHOZ]

Here is a article sent to me by a fellow BITOGer that is a helpful resource on this subject:

What Happens to Those Solar Panels When Solar Companies Shut Down​

When a door-to-door salesman showed up at Christine Palmer’s door in 2022 telling her she could save money by going solar, she and her husband decided to make the investment.

Two years later, the panels have never been switched on and the company that installed them—Titan Solar—has abruptly gone out of business, leaving Palmer with a shiny but useless array on her roof.

Even if she could get someone to fix the panels, Titan installed them in a way that doesn’t pass inspection in her town of Lindenhurst, Ill., meaning someone would have to redo the whole installation before the panels could be turned on, she says.

Meanwhile, GoodLeap, the company that loaned her the money to buy the panels, is still calling constantly, trying to collect on the loan, she says. Titan was supposed to come out to try to fix the panels on a Friday after dozens of previous attempts, but on Thursday night she started seeing on Facebook that Titan was going out of business. Palmer confirmed that the company was kaput and her emails to representatives bounced back as undeliverable. “Our system has not worked for one hour,” she says. “Yet there’s no protection for us at all.”

Read More: Another Solar Company Goes Bust

Titan was the largest solar installer to close its doors when it shut down June 13, according to research firm Wood Mackenzie, but customers like Palmer are not alone in having nonworking panels on their homes and nowhere to turn. Thousands of customers from a company called Pink Energy were put in the same position when Pink filed for bankruptcy in October 2022. Dozens of other solar firms have failed this year as well, including Infinity Energy, Solcius, and Kayo Energy.

https://time.com/6991853/solar-panels-roof-companies-shut-down/

Solar in Illinois is another money laundering er, government program that gets little to nothing done at great expense. There is a program for low income of no cost installation of solar panels around the state. But not many certified for the program installers.

Not many around here go solar unless they already are well off or need tax write offs like farmers and grain elevators.

 

[alarmguy]

I’m not sure if this pertains to you but announced today one of the nations or the nations largest residential solar company is on the brink of collapse.
Here is the news story I believe this afternoon stock price was slashed in half

https://markets.businessinsider.com...ollapse-as-shipments-installs-stop-1033573445

@JeffKeryk
Is this who you used for your panels?
I thought I remember that you at least got estimates from them at the time

 

[JeffKeryk]

I’m not sure if this pertains to you but announced today one of the nations or the nations largest residential solar company is on the brink of collapse.
Here is the news story I believe this afternoon stock price was slashed in half

https://markets.businessinsider.com...ollapse-as-shipments-installs-stop-1033573445

@JeffKeryk
Is this who you used for your panels?
I thought I remember that you at least got estimates from them at the time

Infinity Energy out of Rocklin (Sac area). They did a great job; unfortunately they are no longer in business.
I think NEM3 killed them, along with many other small solar companies. Going forward, there is a local Los Gatos company I will contact with any issues. Or maybe Sunrun, dunno.

I probably got 5 or more estimates and talked to more. I narrowed it down to 3 companies, as I recall. Solar was very hot at that time; everyone was vying for customers as it was such a no-brainer here.
Costco Sunrun was very close to earning my business. They were a good outfit; zero complaints.

 

[alarmguy]

Costco Sunrun was very close to earning my business. They were a good outfit; zero complaints.

that was the name you mentioned in the past I remember now.
When I saw SunPower shutting operations today I thought it was one you mentioned which it wasnt

 

[JeffKeryk]

that was the name you mentioned in the past I remember now.
When I saw SunPower shutting operations today I thought it was one you mentioned which it wasnt

When I 1st heard Infinity shuttered, I was pretty scared. What if?
But it is what it is; we always move forward. So far my system has been flawless.
If something happens, there are plenty of companies around here because there are plenty of solar installations.
The good news is, I insisted on start of the art components at the time; I compared quotes at the component level.
What did I learn? I would have gone with Sunrun for just a little more money. What's a poor boy to do?

As always, all good @alarmguy. I love my solar.

 

[alarmguy]

When I 1st heard Infinity shuttered, I was pretty scared. What if?
But it is what it is; we always move forward. So far my system has been flawless.
If something happens, there are plenty of companies around here because there are plenty of solar installations.
The good news is, I insisted on start of the art components at the time; I compared quotes at the component level.
What did I learn? I would have gone with Sunrun for just a little more money. What's a poor boy to do?

As always, all good @alarmguy. I love my solar.

You did your homework before you committed, you got a good number of years under your belt with the system that has been running as best as you hoped for.

You’re not going to have any problems, I’m sure they would’ve surfaced by now and even if you did There are plenty of others around.