Freedom Forever · California · updated 2026-09-05

Freedom Forever went bankrupt. Here's what to do if they installed your solar in California.

Freedom Forever filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 15, 2026, and the court converted it to Chapter 7 on August 7, 2026, which means the company is being wound down rather than reorganized. It installed roughly 190,000 systems in more than 35 states. If yours is one of them, the panels still work, the loan is still due, and the people who promised to service the system are gone. This page is the calm version of what that means.

Run the free check right here

Four numbers from your inverter or old app. The result compares what your system has produced with what one like it should have produced at your address. No account, no sales call.

ZIP code Used only to look up typical sunlight for your area.

System size, kW On your contract, permit, or utility interconnection letter. Or count panels and multiply by 0.4.

Install date The month is close enough. Use the first of the month if you're not sure.

Lifetime production, kWh (usually thousands, not the system size) The "lifetime" or "total energy" number on your inverter's screen, or in the old monitoring app if it still opens. Where to find it, by brand.

Roof details, optional

Roof pitch, degrees

Direction panels face, degrees South is 180. West is 270. East is 90.

Email, to save your result We'll send the result and a reminder in a year to check again. Nothing else. No list is sold, ever.

Your result

of expected

Your system has produced
A system like yours should have produced
Time in service
Weather station used

How this was calculated

Expected production comes from PVWatts, the federal solar model from the National Laboratory of the Rockies (formerly NREL), using typical-year weather for your area, your system size, and a fixed roof mount at the pitch and direction given. It's summed month by month from your install date to today, with a small allowance for normal panel aging. Your actual number comes from you. The comparison is only as good as those inputs.

Thresholds: 85 percent or above reads as normal, because weather, shade, and dust easily account for that much. Between 65 and 85 percent is worth a look. Below 65 percent, something is usually wrong.

This is a production comparison, not an inspection. It cannot detect electrical faults, wiring damage, or safety problems, and a "normal" result does not mean the system is safe. If you smell burning, see scorch marks, or hear buzzing at the inverter, turn the system off at the disconnect and call a licensed electrician.

Getting a quote from another company? Run the quote check before you sign: price, production, financing, tax credit, and whether they will be around.

What you lost

The workmanship warranty on the installation itself, including roof penetrations
Any production guarantee Freedom Forever made in your contract
Their support line and any monitoring portal they ran
Anyone who knew your system's history

What you kept

The hardware. It's yours and it doesn't know the installer is gone
The manufacturer warranties on panels, inverter, and battery. Those come from Enphase, SolarEdge, Tesla, Q CELLS and the like, not from Freedom Forever
Your utility interconnection and net metering agreement
Your loan, unfortunately. It was sold or serviced separately and bankruptcy of the installer does not cancel it

Want it handled for you? Who owes you the fix depends on one thing:

You own it (cash or a loan)I write the warranty claim to the panel or inverter maker, with your serials and production numbers, and settle who pays the labor before any repair.

You lease or have a PPAI write the dispute to the company billing you: the service your agreement says they owe, and any credit it may owe you.

You read and approve it first, then I send it with you copied. $99 founding price, one time. Ready in 3 business days or it's free.

File it for me, $99 Not sure it's underproducing? Run the free check first

This week

Find out if it's producing. Look at your inverter or your old app for a lifetime energy number, then run the free check. Ninety seconds. If the number is fine, most of the panic goes away.
Get your own monitoring access. If your app went dark, it was probably tied to the installer's account. The brand guides walk through getting your own Enphase or SolarEdge access so no future company can take it away.
Find your paperwork before it disappears. The contract, the system design or layout sheet, the permit, and the utility interconnection approval. If the Freedom Forever customer portal still opens, download everything today. Save the serial numbers of the inverter and a few panels.
Register your warranties directly. Most installers never registered the homeowner with the manufacturer. Do it now with the serial numbers. It's free and it's the thing that makes a future repair claim work.
Confirm who holds your loan. Keep paying it. Check your most recent statement for the servicer's name and put it with the paperwork. If you believe you were misled at the time of sale, that is a question for a consumer attorney, not for us, and the California Attorney General's Public Inquiry Unit and the Contractors State License Board both take complaints.

Rather not fight it alone? Who owes you the fix depends on one thing:

You own it (cash or a loan)I write the warranty claim to the panel or inverter maker, with your serials and production numbers, and settle who pays the labor before any repair.

You lease or have a PPAI write the dispute to the company billing you: the service your agreement says they owe, and any credit it may owe you.

You read and approve it first, then I send it with you copied. $99 founding price, one time. Ready in 3 business days or it's free.

File it for me, $99 How it works

California specifics

California was a major Freedom Forever market from the Inland Empire to the Central Valley and Sacramento. Two California-specific notes: the CSLB runs a Solar Energy System Restitution Program that has paid some consumers when a licensed solar contractor failed, and California's Solar Consumer Protection Guide, which your installer was required to give you, lists your cancellation and complaint rights.

California requires a Contractors State License Board (CSLB) license, usually C-10 electrical or C-46 solar, for any solar work. Look the company up on the CSLB site and check the bond and workers' comp are current.

PG&E, SCE and SDG&E each keep the interconnection record, as do the municipal utilities such as SMUD in Sacramento and LADWP in Los Angeles, which run their own solar programs on their own terms. Your net metering tariff (NEM 1, NEM 2 or the newer solar billing plan) is tied to the account and survives the installer, which matters because the older tariffs are worth real money and transfer to a buyer of the house for the remainder of their term. Permit records are with your city or county building department; most large ones have online lookup.

Questions California owners keep asking

Do I still have to pay the loan?: Yes. The loan was made by a lender, not by Freedom Forever, and it's being serviced by whoever holds it now. The installer's bankruptcy doesn't touch it. Stopping payment damages your credit and can put a lien on the house.
Is the 25-year warranty gone?: Two different warranties got sold to you as one. The manufacturer's warranty on the equipment survives and is usually 10 to 25 years depending on the part. The installer's workmanship warranty, which covered the labor and the roof, is the one that's now a claim in a bankruptcy court.
Can I file a claim in the bankruptcy?: Yes, if Freedom Forever owes you money: a deposit, a promised rebate or refund, or a repair its workmanship warranty should have paid for. The deadline is October 16, 2026. The court mailed the notice (Official Form 309D) in August; it is the letter that lists this date. File Official Form 410 for free on the court's electronic claim form at deb.uscourts.gov/claims-information, case number 26-10522 (District of Delaware), with your contract, receipts and photos attached. The trustee is Alfred T. Giuliano. Recoveries for unsecured claims in a liquidation are usually small or nothing, but filing is free, and a claim not filed by the deadline is out. This isn't legal advice.
Someone called offering to "take over" my system or "cancel my loan.": Be careful. The bankruptcy created a wave of lead-generation sites and cold calls aimed at exactly this fear. Nobody can cancel a loan with a phone call. Anyone who wants money up front to "transfer" your warranty is selling something you can do yourself for free.
What if the roof leaks?: Roof penetrations were covered by the workmanship warranty, which is gone. A leak at a mount is a roofer's job first, and a licensed solar tech may need to lift panels. Your homeowner's insurance may or may not cover it depending on cause. Photograph everything before anyone touches it.

Who is actually still here

A few companies will service a Freedom Forever system in California for a fee. Palmetto offers free basic monitoring for any system in its app with paid service tiers above it. Solar Insure's SolarDetect program adds hardware and a monthly plan. Independent licensed solar contractors will do a diagnostic visit for a quoted price. We don't take money from any of them. If your check comes back "likely a problem," we'll offer to send your result to one vetted local company, with your permission and their name shown first.