Another solar company goes bankrupt

OOne of the country’s largest residential solar installers has abruptly closed its doors and filed for bankruptcy, in the latest blow to a troubled industry.

Titan Solar, which has installed thousands of systems across the U.S., informed its employees on June 13 that it was “going out of business” after being unable to secure a buyer for the company, according to an email obtained by TIME . In the email, Titan said it has helped more than 100,000 families adopt solar energy.

Titan isn’t the only solar installer to close its doors recently. The company, which could not be reached for comment for this story — its website has been shut down — is one of 16 large solar companies that have filed for bankruptcy in 2023 and 2024, according to Solar Insure, which offers guarantees and monitoring for owners who have solar energy. They include Pink Energy and Vision Solar, which, like other operators in the sector, have faced regulatory action and numerous consumer complaints. Customers are left with solar panels on their homes, which they may or may not want. Some are working with lenders to find another company to take over maintenance of their panels; others are just trying to get out of loans.

The broader industry faces significant upheaval. In December, SunPower said there were “substantial doubts” about its ability to continue operating. Sunlight Financial, which provided financing for residential solar, filed for bankruptcy last October. SunRun, one of the largest residential installers in the country, saw its share price plummet 87% from its 2020 peak; the share price of Sunnova, another national installer, fell 88%.

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There are a number of reasons why the solar industry is struggling, including higher interest rates, fewer opportunities to offset your energy bill in some states, and high overall installation costs. But Titan’s failure points to a major flaw in a U.S. solar energy model that has been plagued by consumer complaints and regulatory actions.

Titan operated on a so-called “dealer model,” meaning it did not make any sales itself, but instead outsourced them to “dealers” who sent teams of salespeople. Salespeople operated with little oversight and sometimes made promises the company couldn’t keep, says Walid Halty, founder of Monalee, an AI-based solar installation company that killed off salespeople. “Their model was to grow, grow, grow, at any cost – they didn’t care how they got the sales,” says Halty.

In the dealer model, Titan would set a “red line” – essentially a minimum price, usually per watt, at which the dealer needed to sell the system. If a salesperson could sell the system for more than this price, they would receive more commission. This encouraged them to make promises that the company could not keep.

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For Titan, the reseller program turned out to be a “double-edged sword,” according to Ara Agopian, founder and CEO of Solar Insure. “Resellers’ primary motivation was to maximize their commissions, which sometimes led to aggressive sales tactics and overselling of systems without due consideration to customers’ specific needs,” he wrote, in a post on his website.

The Nevada State Board of Contractors placed Titan on probation in 2023 after receiving several customer complaints. The company faces several lawsuits. In a complaint, filed in Ohio on June 13, a consumer named Thomas Jones alleges that a Titan salesperson told Jones he would not have an electric bill if he installed solar panels because of a free government program. The seller then allegedly forged Jones’ signature on the loan documents, taking out a $69,000 loan from another company without Jones’ knowledge. The loan included finance charges of $75,000, meaning the payments would total $166,422.80, according to the complaint. The seller allegedly avoided scrutiny by sending the contract to an email address similar to Jones’, but not his.

“They screwed a lot of people,” says a former Titan customer service representative, who described receiving many consumer complaints. “They preyed on people who thought they would save money.”