Solar panels been down for months

[JakeC]

Hello,

So I'm trying to see if there is anything I can do here. My panels were shut off October 2018 due to "something" not right in the system. They told me some of the connectors they used are faulty and all of them need to be replaced. At that time I was told December - January for repair.

Here we are in April and they are still not fixed. I called a couple weeks ago and they said June. Meanwhile I now have to pay my current electric bill ($250) and I also have to pay my Solar. They said it estimates based on previous years and when the system gets turned back on I'll get a credit for those paid months. The problem is I'm budgeted for a $200 bill, it's never been higher then $225 in the summer. My solar covers 100% so now with summer approaching I guess I will have to pay my electric AND my fake solar bill which both will potentially be over $500 a month.

Do I have any recourse here?

Jake

[littleharbor]

I would have been raising hell from day one. By now I would have legal action against these flakes. There's no money to be made in them coming out to redo your whole array and as long as you're not being the Squeaky Wheel you will continue to be kicked to the bottom of the priority list. This is my gut reaction. Others here probably have a better remedy.

[J.P.M.]

What, if anything, does the contract you signed with this outfit say about what happens if a system outage occurs and that outage is traceable to equipment failure or fauly installation ?

That's where I would have started.

Also, that you waited so long may not help your cause in small claims court which is where this may wind up. Good guys finish last. That's just the way it is.

[Ampster]

What, if anything, does the contract you signed with this outfit say about what happens if a system outage occurs and that outage is traceable to equipment failure or fauly installation ?

That's where I would have started.

Also, that you waited so long may not help your cause in small claims court which is where this may wind up. Good guys finish last. That's just the way it is.

I would take this to small claims court depending what you contract says. Regardless of the contract, you as a "small guy" may get some equity from a judge sympathetic to your plight against the corporate Solar City. Be sure and file timely and bring your documentation to court. Of you are lucky Solar City (now part of Tesla) may be so understaffed that they dont show up and you get default judgement. Most jurisdictions have a one year statute of limitations so file quickly. You do have an ongoing issue so there is hope that you fit within the one year statute of limitations. This is not legal advice but information for you to do legal research. Where are you located?

[J.P.M.]

I would take this to small claims court depending what you contract says. Regardless of the contract, you as a "small guy" may get some equity from a judge sympathetic to your plight against the corporate Solar City. Be sure and file timely and bring your documentation to court. Of you are lucky Solar City (now part of Tesla) may be so understaffed that they dont show up and you get default judgement. Most jurisdictions have a one year statute of limitations so file quickly. You do have an ongoing issue so there is hope that you fit within the one year statute of limitations. This is not legal advice but information for you to do legal research. Where are you located?

So you agree with me ? What makes you write/think the vendor is SolarCity ?

[Ampster]

So you agree with me ? What makes you write/think the vendor is SolarCity ?

I made an assumption that the vendor was Solar City because it is in the Solar City section of this forum. That assumption may need to be checked. I also realize the OP is well within a one year statute of limitations so no risk there. It would be useful if the OP would tell us the Lessor but more importantly is what the contract actually says about a non functioning system. It will be the contract terms that will drive any reimbursement. He alluded to something but did not give much detail.

[daniel13]

The production guarantee clauses in the SolarCity contracts should cover this, I assume. Unless there's legalese I'm missing, but they guarantee a certain amount of power each year and would have to issue you a refund when the totals don't add up at year's end.