Billing
My solar is down and SunStrong keeps billing me. Should I stop paying?
It is one of the most common questions in the SunStrong and Sunnova owner groups, and the replies are usually "just stop paying." This page won't tell you to stop or to keep paying. That's your decision, and it turns on your own agreement and your state's law. What it can do is show you which paper decides it, what other owners say happened to them, and how to get your dispute on the record in writing, which helps whatever you decide.
Whether to pay is your call. Your agreement and your state's law govern it, and they differ from one owner to the next. For advice on your situation, a consumer attorney or your state attorney general's consumer protection office can help. This page is general information, not legal or financial advice.
Bill doesn't match your agreement, or you're billed for months the system was off? The Billing Dispute Kit walks you through the dated letter yourself: what to ask for, which pages of your agreement to cite, and how to lay out the months and amounts. You send it yourself. $29, one time.
First: which do you have?
A lease or a PPA (SunStrong bills you for the system or the power): SunStrong owns the equipment. Your agreement says what they owe you when it isn't working, from repairs to how the bill is worked out. On a PPA you usually pay for the power the system actually makes, so a dead system and a full bill are worth putting side by side.
A loan (you own the system): the loan is a separate contract with your lender, and the bill you're getting may not be from SunStrong at all. The equipment usually carries the maker's warranty, which is yours. The loan agreement and the warranty are two different documents, and it's worth reading both before you decide anything.
What owners in the groups say happened when they stopped paying
These are things owners have reported about their own accounts. They aren't predictions, and your agreement may work differently.
- One owner who stopped paying over a system with no service reports the account was sent to collections and the system was shut off.
- Several owners report the balance showing up on their credit reports, in some cases at amounts they say are higher than they owed.
- Owners on loans report being told the loan still stands even though the installer is gone and the system isn't working.
- Other owners report removing autopay while they dispute the bills, and still getting collection calls.
What the threads rarely show is a written record: the date the system went down, the date they told the company, and what they asked for. That record is the part you control.
What to read in your agreement
- The billing or payment section. Some agreements describe how to dispute a bill: who to write to, how, and how long the company has to answer. Read that clause before anything else.
- The repair or maintenance section. On a lease or PPA, what the company has promised to do when the system stops producing, and how fast.
- The production or performance section. If your agreement names a yearly production figure or a guarantee, the months the system was down may count toward that year; check how your agreement measures it.
- The notices section. The address or email where the agreement says written notices go.
Putting the dispute in writing
- Write down the dates. When the system stopped producing (your monitoring app or your utility bill will show it), and each time you contacted the company.
- Send one dated letter by email, and to the notices address if your agreement names one. Say which bills you dispute, why, which sections of your agreement you're relying on, and what you're asking for: the repair by a date, and a corrected bill or a credit for the months it was down.
- Keep every reply and put it next to the page of your agreement it should match.
To show what your system should be making for your address, start with the free production check. It gives you a number to put in the letter.
A dated, specific letter is much harder to ignore than a phone call. If you want to write it yourself, the $29 kits lay it out: the Billing Dispute Kit for bills that don't match your agreement or bills for months the system was dead, and the Dead or Broken System Kit for asking for the repair by a date.
Or I write it for you from your own agreement and bills: $99 flat. You read and approve it, then send it yourself from your own email.
See the kits, $29 or have it written for you, $99; or email jon@solarstillworks.com.
What this page isn't
It isn't legal or financial advice, and it doesn't tell you whether to pay. It doesn't cover credit reports or credit disputes. Agreements differ from one customer to the next, so your own agreement wins over anything general here.
“After the letter was sent, it was mere days that they got back to me with a much more positive email looking into all our issues causing the total system to be down.”
Tami B., SunStrong customer