05/05/2026
I am the world's greatest advocate for going solar and owning it.I am also the person who has been warning the real estate industry, for years, about how solar was being sold and what would eventually happen to the homeowners trying to buy and sell their homes.The reckoning has arrived.In the past two years, more than 100 residential solar companies have filed for bankruptcy or shut down. SunPower. Sunnova. Mosaic. Titan Solar Power. Vision Solar. Pink Energy. ADT Solar. Sun Badger. And two weeks ago, Freedom Forever — the second-largest residential solar installer in the country — filed for Chapter 11 owing up to one billion dollars.Now five state attorneys general are actively pursuing consumer protection actions against the industry.Connecticut. Minnesota. New York. Arizona. Texas.The allegations include forged signatures. Impersonations of consumers. Hidden fees totaling tens of millions of dollars. Non-functioning systems. The Connecticut Attorney General called the complaints "beyond shocking." The New York Attorney General estimates one company alone defrauded New Yorkers — including seniors on fixed incomes — out of $275 million.
This is not a fringe enforcement action.
This is a multi-state pattern.
Here is what nobody is naming clearly enough.
The homeowners caught inside this are not the ones who got greedy. They are the ones who trusted. They trusted a salesperson who seemed knowledgeable. A company that seemed established.
An industry that operated with no licensing requirement, no code of ethics, no fiduciary duty, and no regulator with subpoena power asking what was actually promised at the kitchen table.
Now those same homeowners are trying to sell their homes.
There is a UCC-1 lien on title filed by a company that no longer exists.
Nobody to call to release it.
The buyer's rate lock is ticking.
The closing date is approaching.
And the agent — through no fault of their own — has no idea what to do, because the real estate community was not trained to navigate this and was not warned in time by the people who should have been warning.
I have been preparing for this moment for over a decade. I wrote Solar Agreements in Real Estate for exactly this. I wrote The Solar SOS for exactly this.The Solar Lady of Real Estate is in the field.
Full throttle.
The phone is on.
If you are a homeowner with a solar system installed by a company that has filed for bankruptcy or exited your state, reach out.
If you are an agent with a listing where the solar agreement is creating problems you cannot solve, reach out.
If you are a broker, an association, or an education director who needs to bring this content to the people you serve, reach out.
The full article is in the first comment.
Are you seeing solar-complicated transactions in your market? Have you helped a homeowner caught in this?
