What a Solar Installer Bankruptcy Does to Your Warranty and Your Loan

The call that matters after an installer closes is not to the installer. It is to the panel maker, the inverter maker and the lender, because each of them holds a different piece of the system. Chapter 7 liquidation ends the installer’s obligations outright, while Chapter 11 reorganization keeps them alive while the company restructures. The service companies that later bought failed installers’ intellectual property show how the pieces get picked up, and the court record shows how few affected homeowners ever become creditors in the case.

The lesson comes from the largest failure in the industry’s history. Titan Solar Power, one of the largest residential installers in the United States, told its employees on June 13, 2024 that it was closing its doors, then filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy a week later. More than 150,000 homeowners were left with systems that worked and warranties that did not. The pattern has repeated since, with Sunworks and Solcius filing for Chapter 7 in February 2024 and service companies stepping in to pick up the pieces.

What a Solar Installer Bankruptcy Does to Each Warranty

A home solar system carries three warranties, and they belong to different companies. That split decides everything when one of those companies fails. Aurora Solar, the solar design software company, puts the rule plainly in its guide for homeowners: workmanship warranties are affected by installer bankruptcies, while product and performance warranties are affected by manufacturer bankruptcies. The installer going under does not touch the manufacturer’s promises, and the manufacturer going under does not touch the installer’s promises.

The table below maps each coverage to its backer and to what happens in each kind of failure. It is the first thing to check when a closure notice arrives, because it tells you which phone calls matter and which do not.

The workmanship warranty is the one that dies. It covers the labour of the installation itself: the roof penetrations, the wiring, the racking, the sealing. Titan promised 25 years of it. Our own guide to the three solar warranties notes that the industry standard for workmanship is 10 years, with 25 years offered only by premium installers. Titan’s 25-year promise was two and a half times the standard, and it was worth nothing the day the company closed, because there was no company left to honour it.

The product and performance warranties survive because they belong to the panel and inverter makers. If the panels are made by a company still in business, that company’s 25-year product warranty and 25-year performance warranty still apply, even though the installer is gone. The catch is practical rather than legal: the homeowner has to claim directly with the manufacturer instead of calling the installer, and the manufacturer covers the part, and the owner pays separately for the labour to swap it. Aurora Solar advises owners to identify the manufacturer of each component from the parts themselves, the user manuals, the installation documents or the monitoring software, then contact each manufacturer to confirm coverage.

The type of bankruptcy decides how much time you have. Chapter 11 is a reorganization bankruptcy: the business keeps operating while it restructures its debts, and service and warranty claims may still be honoured during the process. Chapter 7 is a liquidation: the business closes, a trustee sells what is left, and the owner needs a new service partner. Titan filed Chapter 7, which is why its customers had nobody to call. The distinction matters before you panic: a Chapter 11 filing means keep the service number and watch the case, while a Chapter 7 filing means start looking for a replacement the same week.

Operations and maintenance agreements die with the installer unless they are transferred. Some homeowners pay for an agreement that covers inspections and repairs. When the installer closes, that agreement becomes void, and any prepaid value becomes a claim against the bankruptcy estate. Monitoring usually survives, because monitoring sensors are tied to the inverter rather than the installer. As long as the inverter company stays in business, the monitoring app keeps reporting and the inverter company can help troubleshoot. Aurora Solar notes that the system should still be inspected annually, and that inspection now falls to the owner to arrange.

Titan Solar Left 150,000 Homeowners Without a Workmanship Warranty

Titan Solar Power grew fast and died fast. Founded in Arizona in 2013, it became one of the largest residential installers in the country through a dealer model in which outside sales contractors sold systems that Titan installed. In June 2024 the company had been negotiating with a buyer for six months. The deal fell through on June 11, 2024. Two days later Titan told its employees it was closing its doors, and on June 20, 2024 it filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Arizona, case number 2:24-bk-04978, with court documents listing between 5,001 and 10,000 creditors.

The scale is what makes Titan the reference case for the whole industry. More than 150,000 homeowners were affected, according to law firm and industry guides tracking the collapse. Two calculations from the court record sharpen the picture, and both are Joule Post arithmetic. First, the 5,001 to 10,000 creditors listed in the filing represent only 3.3 to 6.7 percent of the 150,000 affected customers, which means the overwhelming majority of homeowners were not creditors in the case and had no claim to file. Second, Titan’s 25-year workmanship warranty was voided in the company’s eleventh year, so a system installed in Titan’s final years lost nearly all of its labour coverage at once. The panels carried on. The promise to fix them did not.

Help arrived slowly and in pieces. In April 2025, service company EnergyAid announced it had acquired Titan’s intellectual property following the Chapter 7 filing, and that it planned to integrate Titan’s monitoring network into its platform and launch a membership programme with discounted repair rates. Solar Power World reported the acquisition on April 10, 2025. In April 2026, Otovo, a home energy service company, acquired 100 percent of EnergyAid. Former Titan customers may use any service company they choose. EnergyAid’s acquisition is the closest thing to a successor the customer base has. The same pattern played out with Sunworks and Solcius, which filed for Chapter 7 on February 5, 2024 and whose intellectual property EnergyAid also acquired.

Titan was not an isolated failure. It was the largest in a wave of installer closures that hit the residential solar industry in 2024 and 2025, as rising interest rates, shrinking net metering benefits in states like California, and the end of the federal residential solar tax credit squeezed installer margins. Aurora Solar names the One Big Beautiful Bill Act among the policies that made conditions tougher for installers. Our analysis of solar economics after the tax credit ended covers the same squeeze from the homeowner side. The lesson for buyers is that installer stability is part of the purchase, not an afterthought.

Your Loan, Lease or PPA Survives the Bankruptcy

The most common misunderstanding after an installer closes is that the payments stop too. They do not. A bankruptcy filing by the installer does not automatically end a loan, a lease, a power purchase agreement, a warranty or a lien, according to the bankruptcy records database that tracks solar company filings. The contract survives the company that sold it.

For owners with a solar loan, nothing changes on the payment side. When an installer fails but the lender does not, the loan stays with the lender named on the loan agreement, and the owner keeps paying that lender. What the owner loses is the installer’s workmanship warranty and service, not the loan terms. The lender is a separate company with its own money and its own legal department, and it is not a party to the installer’s bankruptcy. Owners should contact the loan provider directly to confirm payment details and to ask whether the lender offers any hardship or servicing help, but they should not stop paying while they ask.

For owners with a lease or a power purchase agreement, the contract is usually sold to another company as part of the bankruptcy process, much as a bank’s customer accounts move when the bank is acquired. The owner should receive a formal transfer notice by mail or email with instructions on where to send payments and who to contact. If no notice arrives, the original contract usually contains contingency clauses, and the owner should contact the company or its bankruptcy administrator directly. Payment obligations remain in place regardless of the transition. Leased and PPA systems may also carry a UCC-1 fixture filing against the property, which records the third party’s interest in the system. It does not block a home sale. It must still be addressed at closing, so owners selling a home with a leased system should raise it with their conveyancer early.

The unfinished installation is the hardest case. If the system was only partly installed when the company closed, the owner needs to find out from the company, its administrator or the court record what work was completed and what remains, then find a reputable certified installer to finish the job. An unfinished system may also have deposits at risk and permits in the installer’s name, both of which take time to untangle. Owners in this position should document everything, keep every email and contract, and get the new installer to inspect the work already done before signing a completion contract. A second installer will not warrant the first installer’s work, so the inspection matters.

How to Find a New Company for an Orphaned System

The practical work after a closure follows a short checklist, and the order matters. Review the contract first, for transferable warranties and contingency clauses. Confirm warranty coverage with the equipment manufacturers second, so you know what is still covered before you pay for anything. Check whether the account was transferred to another company third, because a transfer notice may already name the new servicer. Contact the loan provider or financier fourth, to confirm payment obligations. Then hire a licensed solar electrician for repairs or unfinished work, and keep monitoring the system while you do it.

The replacement technician should be NABCEP-certified, the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners credential that marks a trained installer. Aurora Solar recommends searching for a local NABCEP-certified technician, installer or licensed solar electrician, and vetting candidates by their industry background and online reviews. The manufacturer can usually supply a list of installers certified to work on its equipment, according to EnergySage, which is a useful shortcut when the original installer is gone. Experience with the specific equipment matters: an installer who has worked on the same inverter brand will diagnose a fault faster than a general electrician.

A new category of company has grown around this problem: third-party operations and maintenance firms that specialize in taking over orphaned solar systems. EnergyAid is one, and GreenLancer is another. These firms offer monitoring, discounted repairs and membership programmes for owners whose installer has closed. They are a practical option for owners who want a long-term service relationship rather than a one-off repair. Owners should still check what the membership covers, what it excludes, and whether the firm is certified for their equipment before signing.

Monitoring deserves attention of its own. If the system already has monitoring software, keep using it and watch output daily for the first month after the closure, because a fault that would once have been caught by the installer’s monitoring team now falls to the owner. If there is no monitoring, start: the inverter company’s app is the usual route. Our guide to catching a dead panel from the monitoring app explains what a sudden drop in one panel’s output looks like and what to do about it. A system that stops producing while the loan keeps billing is the worst outcome of an installer closure, and monitoring is the only early warning.

What the Titan Collapse Changed for Buyers Choosing an Installer

The Titan collapse changed how a careful buyer should read a solar quote. Before 2024, the workmanship warranty was a line on the quote, and a 25-year promise looked better than a 10-year one. After Titan, a 25-year promise from a company that might not last 11 years looks like what it is: a promise only as strong as the company behind it. The industry standard is 10 years for workmanship, and a longer promise is worth having only if the company has the balance sheet and the history to keep it.

The vetting checklist is largely the same. The stakes are higher. The Better Business Bureau suggests getting at least three quotes for a significant job, which gives a sense of the market and of how competitive each price is. Read the reviews, check certifications, and look at how long the company has been in business, including for larger companies. Check the BBB score. Ask who backs each warranty and what happens to it if the installer closes. Ask whether the company offers a third-party or extended warranty, which Aurora Solar notes can protect against warranty interruptions such as bankruptcy. A third-party warranty costs more upfront and pays off only if the installer fails, which is exactly the risk Titan proved is real.

Two structural facts should shape the decision. The first is that the residential solar market consolidates in waves: when margins shrink, the weakest installers close, and the closures cluster. Titan, Sunworks and Solcius all failed within five months of each other. The second is that manufacturer warranties are the durable part of the package. Panels from a large manufacturer with a 25-year product warranty carry a promise from a company with factories, a balance sheet and a reputation to protect, while a workmanship warranty carries a promise from a local installer whose survival depends on next quarter’s sales. Buyers should weight the two accordingly, and should treat the installer’s years in business and financial stability as part of the product, not as background.

None of this argues against rooftop solar. The systems work, the panels last, and the economics still hold in most states even after the federal credit ended, as our California payback analysis shows for the toughest market in the country. What Titan proved is narrower: the hardware outlasts the handshake. Buy the panels for their warranty, buy the installer for its staying power, and keep the paperwork for both.

Frequently asked questions

What should I do first if my solar company goes out of business?

Review your contract for transferable warranties, then contact the equipment manufacturers to confirm which warranties still apply. Check whether your account was transferred to another company, contact your loan provider to confirm payments, and find a NABCEP-certified technician for repairs or unfinished work. Keep monitoring the system throughout.

Does my solar warranty survive if the installer goes bankrupt?

Product and performance warranties survive, because they belong to the equipment manufacturer. The workmanship warranty does not survive, because it belongs to the installer. Third-party or extended warranties can cover the gap if you bought one before the closure.

Do I still have to pay my solar loan if the installer closed?

Yes. The loan stays with the lender named on the loan agreement, and payments continue on schedule. An installer’s bankruptcy does not cancel a loan, a lease or a power purchase agreement. Contact the lender directly if you need to discuss servicing or hardship options.

Can another company finish my unfinished solar installation?

Yes, but find out first what work was completed and what remains, then hire a reputable certified installer to inspect the existing work before signing a completion contract. The new installer will not warrant the first installer’s work, so the inspection matters.

How do I find a new company to service my solar panels?

Search for a local NABCEP-certified technician or licensed solar electrician, ask the equipment manufacturer for a list of installers certified for your equipment, or contact a third-party operations and maintenance firm that specializes in orphaned solar systems. Vet any candidate by reviews, certifications and years in business.

Sources

• Your solar company went out of business, here is what to do next, Aurora Solar
• Bankrupt Solar Companies: Full List, BankruptcyData, research cutoff October 20, 2026
• Titan Solar Power Closed June 2024: Warranty And Service Help, Post Solar Services, updated October 27, 2026
• Solar Installer Went Out Of Business? 5 Steps To Take Next, Post Solar Services, updated October 27, 2026
• What To Do If Your Solar Company Goes Out of Business, GreenLancer