Mara Willis thought she was buying peace of mind. In 2022, the Virginia homeowner spent $32,000 for solar panels and even a new roof in hopes of cutting her climbing power bills from Dominion Energy.
For a while, it worked. Her monthly statement fell, and the sun seemed to be doing its job. But when her installer, Titan Solar, went out of business and the panels stopped producing power, the only thing that kept running was her loan payment.
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“I can’t pay for something that’s not working,” Willis told 10 On Your Side [1], explaining that her utility bill had climbed back toward $300.
Across the country, more than 5 million solar systems now power American homes, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association — and in 2023, solar surpassed every other source to account for over half of all new electricity generation [2]. But the industry’s rapid rise has exposed its own growing pains: as smaller installers fold, homeowners like Willis are being left stranded between lenders, shuttered companies and utilities all blaming each other.
Here’s what you can do to avoid getting left in the dark.
Solar dreams shattered
After losing her husband earlier this year, Willis was already carrying more than enough heartache. Then, her power bills started to climb again, a hint that something was off. Dominion Energy eventually confirmed what she feared: her roof may have been lined with solar panels, but not a single one was doing its job.
The payments, though, kept coming. Willis still owed $32,000, which is roughly $80 a month, for a system that had stopped working entirely. When she learned that her installer had gone out of business, she decided to stop paying. But instead of relief, she found herself fielding daily calls from the finance company, Goodleap, which still held her loan long after Titan went dark.
“They will call in every day, two and three times a day on different numbers,” Willis said.
10 On Your Side reached out to Loren Bell, a veteran solar installer for 25 years and owner of I Love Solar Virginia. He found outdated software and a padlock keeping the system offline.
“It’s becoming more common,” Bell said, explaining that several solar companies folded last year alone.
And he’s right, residential solar installations dropped 32% in 2024 [3], marking the industry’s sharpest decline in years as rising interest rates and company bankruptcies strained consumer confidence.
“You got to think of it kind of like the repo man, right?” he said. “You buy a car, you stop making a payment, they’re going to show up in your driveway.”
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The hidden risk lurking on your roof
Bell says there’s one detail many homeowners don’t realize until it’s too late: if a solar company goes out of business, the warranty covering any roof work completed during the installation often vanishes with it. In Willis’s case, that meant when her panels stopped working and the installer had folded, the warranty and her recourse were gone.
Between 2022 and 2025, more than 100 solar installation companies across the U.S. filed for bankruptcy or shut down, leaving thousands of customers without service or support [4].
Bell advises anyone buying a home with solar panels to have the system professionally inspected before closing not just to confirm it’s producing energy, but to ensure the software is connected and functioning properly. For existing homeowners, reviewing the fine print on who actually holds the warranty, the manufacturer or the installer can make a major difference if issues arise.
And one more step that often gets overlooked is to check if your homeowner’s insurance covers rooftop solar. Some policies make you add an extra rider or upgrade your plan to protect against damage or breakdowns — a tiny change now that could save you from a massive headache (and bill) later.
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10 On Your Side WAVY (1), Solar Energy Industries Association (2);Solar Energy Industries Association(3); SolarInsure (4)
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