New Jersey Family's Solar System Fails After SunPower Bankruptcy

Solar System Failure and Bankruptcy

• 💡 A New Jersey family invested nearly $55,000 in a solar panel system from SunPower, an established company in the industry.
• ⚠️ Three years later, SunPower filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, leaving the family with a broken system and thousands owed on their solar loan.
• 🏠 The family experienced significant frustration as their electric bills remained high, their backup batteries failed, and the metering system malfunctioned, preventing accurate electricity generation reporting.

Consumer Advocacy and Legal Runaround

• 🔍 The family faced a runaround when seeking help, being directed from consumer advocacy lawyers to bankruptcy lawyers and then to creditor lawyers.
• ⚖️ The New Jersey AG's office referred the family to California officials, who are taking action to revoke SunPower's contractor license.
• 🚫 SunPower's listed phone number is not operational, and their bankruptcy attorneys have not responded to inquiries.

Installer's Perspective and Complete Solar's Intervention

• 📉 Frank Curran, a former SunPower dealer, had to downsize his business due to SunPower's bankruptcy and inability to reimburse installers.
• 🛠️ Complete Solar, a company that bought part of SunPower's business, initially stated they were not responsible for warranties but agreed to troubleshoot the system.
• ✅ Complete Solar engineers successfully rebooted the system, resolving errors and getting it back up and running after about two hours.

Ongoing Issues and Potential Solutions

• ⚠️ The CEO of Complete Solar, TJ Rogers, indicated that a software bug causing batteries to periodically lock up was a significant factor in SunPower's bankruptcy.
• 🤝 Complete Solar is considering creating a service system to reboot batteries for affected customers, aiming to provide a solution without making a profit, though costs will be involved.
• 🌍 Over 100,000 people nationwide may be affected by similar battery issues with these solar systems.