The SunStrong outage letter, and other done-for-you dispute letters · $99
The letter your solar company can't ignore.
Your installer is gone, or SunStrong bills you for a system that isn't working. I'll write the letter for you.
I'm Jon Barney. If you have asked a question in one of the owner groups lately, I am probably the one who answered it. I read your contract, pull the production numbers, write the claim and build the evidence pack. You approve it and send it yourself, from your own email, to the company you are writing to. My part is done when the finished letter is in your hands.
First question, because it changes everything
Do you own your system, or is it a lease or a PPA?
If you own it
Cash or a loan, the system is yours. So are the manufacturer warranties. Enphase, SolarEdge, Tesla, Generac, SMA and Maxeon still honor claims on serial numbers and production evidence, and the installer closing does not touch that. I write that claim for you to send to the maker.
The catch I always check: the warranty usually covers the hardware and not the labor to fit it. That question goes to your servicer in writing, but only after the maker has approved the replacement.
If you lease or have a PPA
The equipment belongs to the company, so the maker's warranty is theirs and not yours. Filing it yourself goes nowhere. That sounds worse than owning and it usually isn't.
Your agreement obliges them to keep the system producing, and most of these contracts carry an estimated annual production figure with a true-up that can credit you when delivered production falls short. I write that demand instead, and ask for the annual reconciliation nobody has ever sent you.
Not sure which one you have? Say so on the form. Telling them apart from your paperwork is the first thing I do, and it is free.
Billing that does not match the contract
The other half of what I write. SunStrong and the companies that took over Sunnova and SunPower agreements, charging above the rate in your contract, billing amounts that have nothing to do with what the system produced, service requests nobody answers, batteries switched off. A demand for the kWh produced each billed month and the rate applied is often the whole argument, because plenty of servicers cannot produce it.
The letters I write most
Same price for every one of them, and every one starts from your own contract and your own papers.
A buyout quote that is too high
Most leases and PPAs print a purchase price for each year, or say the price is the greater of that table and an independent appraisal. I check your quote against your own agreement and write the demand for a corrected figure, or for the appraisal behind it.
A home sale held up by the solar
The buyer cannot take over the agreement, or nobody will send a payoff figure, and the closing date is coming. I write the dated demand that quotes the transfer section of your agreement and gives them a deadline the title company can point to.
Payments refused, or sent to collections
Checks that never get cashed, an account nobody will take money for, then a collections notice. I write the written offer to pay that puts the refusal on the record, and the dispute of any fees or collections that follow.
A balance billed that your contract does not support
A servicer billing, or threatening to report, a balance your agreement does not support. I write the billing dispute to the company, quoting your agreement and payment records, for you to send. This is a billing dispute, not credit repair, and it makes no promise about your credit score. Disputing an entry with the credit bureaus is free, and you can do it yourself.
Prefer to try it yourself first? The free playbooks: a buyout quote that's too high, what the Sunnova bankruptcy did to your agreement, and a solar balance on your credit report.
Freedom Forever customers: the October 16, 2026 proof of claim deadline has passed. For your system, the letter goes to the equipment maker or the company that bills you, like any other. More: Freedom Forever Chapter 7: what now.
Prefer to do it yourself? Letter kits are $29: a guide, a fill-in letter in your own voice and a checklist, for buyout quotes, billing disputes and the Freedom Forever claim.
$99one time
No subscription, and no percentage of anything you recover.
Ready in 3 business days. The claim letter and evidence pack are in your inbox within 3 business days of my having your photos and papers.
No written answer in 30 days? One follow-up letter is free. If the company hasn't answered in writing within 30 days of when you send your letter, forward me that and I'll write one short follow-up letter at no charge. Ask within 60 days of receiving your letter. One follow-up only; I don't track or chase.
What the letter actually looks like
This is the shape of a real one, with the names changed. Yours is built from your own contract and your own numbers.
To: Customer Resolution, [servicer]
Re: Formal dispute and request for production records, account 4471xxxx, 1428 [street], Escondido CA
This is a formal dispute of the amounts billed to the above account from March 2026 onward, and a written request for the records behind them.
What was agreed. The power purchase agreement dated 11 June 2019, page 3, sets a rate of $0.1489 per kWh delivered with a 2.9% annual escalator. Page 1 sets an estimated first-year production of 9,140 kWh. Both pages are attached.
What has been billed. The table below sets out, for each month, the kWh your company states the system produced, the kWh billed, the rate applied and the amount paid. Where your company has never provided a production figure, the table reads "not provided."
The June example. The property was unoccupied from 2 June to 28 June. The utility meter records 75.5 kWh imported for the month. The invoice for that month is $193.44. Invoices for months in which the property recorded 250 to 300 kWh are within four dollars of the same figure. On a production-based agreement those two facts cannot both be correct.
What is requested. For each billed month since March 2026: the kWh the system produced, the rate applied, and the meter or monitoring source that figure was read from. If no such record exists, please state that in writing.
Reservation of rights. A written reservation of your rights while the dispute is open.
Response requested within 30 days.
Enclosures: PPA pages 1 and 3 · 12 months of invoices · 12 months of utility statements · monitoring screenshots, 4 March to 2 September 2026 · correspondence log with dates
Plain, dated and specific, built from the customer's own contract and numbers.
“Jon just helped me with my letter of Demand regarding billing discrepancies and refusal to abide by the terms of the lease. He is extremely knowledgeable and has been a huge help. Although I have all my back up in order, he has knowledge that I am lacking concerning solar leases. He is terrific to work with. Goes above and beyond!!!”
Joan F., New York
“I have been getting a cold shoulder and the silent treatment from Sunstrong for several months. Always telling me ‘We are working on it, don’t contact us again’ attitude. 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
What happened next. After her letter, SunStrong answered in writing within days, saying it would put billing and collections on hold, cancel auto-pay and set up a deferment while it looks into the system. SunStrong then confirmed in writing that it recognized the hail storm as a Force Majeure Event and applied a three-month payment deferment.
How it works
- Fill in the short form below and pay once.
- Within one business day I email you the exact list of what to photograph and which papers to send: serial labels, the app screen, your contract, the bills.
- Within 3 business days of getting them, you get the claim letter and evidence pack to read and approve.
- Once you approve, you get the final letter and the exact sending steps: the address, what to attach, and whether a mailed copy is worth sending too. That completes my part. Sending it, and when, is up to you. I'm not an attorney and never send anything in your name.
- If the company hasn't answered in writing within 30 days of when you send it, forward me that within 60 days of receiving your letter and I'll write one short follow-up letter at no charge.
Start here
Solar Still Works is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. We prepare documents at your direction; you review, sign and send them yourself.
What this isn't
- I'm not a law firm and this isn't legal advice. I don't file lawsuits, and I don't file bankruptcy claims on anyone's behalf: for Freedom Forever I prepare the claim and you sign and file it yourself.
- I can't make a company say yes. I make sure the claim is complete, correct, and hard to ignore.
- I don't do repairs or site visits. If a technician is needed, the letter asks the company in writing who pays for the labor.
- Your information goes to the company you're claiming against and nowhere else. It is never sold or passed to law firms.
Would rather do it yourself? The $29 do-it-yourself kits lay out the same letters for you to write and send. House sale or buyout stuck? See the Home Sale or Buyout Packet, $249. Full terms on the privacy and terms page.