Pender County man still paying for solar panels after company bankruptcy

PENDER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) –A homeowner in Pender County is still making payments on a solar system that stopped working months ago. The company that installed the system has filed for bankruptcy.

Michael Buck lives off Highway 421 in Currie. He signed a contract with Titan Solar in December 2021. The company installed 20 solar panels on his roof in April 2022. Buck says the system didn’t work at first.

“They miswired a few things on the roof, so they had to fix that. They miswired the battery system, which is over here to my right. We had to re-do all of that — so it took at least another three to four months after installation to get the solar panels working,” Buck said.

He says the system only worked for about nine months. It stopped producing power in May 2024. Buck tried calling Titan Solar for help, but the number was disconnected.

“The panels were not working at the time, so we called Titan to get a repair service done — and the phone number was disconnected. We did a little research and found out that they had gone into bankruptcy and had just vanished off the face of the earth,” he said.

Buck financed the system for around $36,000. He makes monthly payments of about $160 under a 25-year loan. He says no company will agree to service the system because they did not install it.

“We are still making a monthly payment, and we have a payment for the next 25 years. If it’s not operational, but we still have to make this payment on a system that’s not operational, it’s very, very frustrating,” Buck said.

He has contacted the North Carolina Attorney General’s office and several law firms. Buck says some law firms asked for thousands of dollars to join a lawsuit. He was told it may take years to resolve.

“Even though we have a full Generac system — the inverters, the batteries, the panels — everything is one hundred percent Generac — nobody who is Generac qualified will come out here to turn our system on,” he said.

Buck says he installed the system to keep his home powered during storms. With hurricane season near, he is concerned about having no backup power.

WWAY contacted the office of North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson to ask what consumers can do in cases like this.

His office provided the following statement:

“Anyone who financed solar panels should contact their lender, as many of these companies have agreed to help folks impacted by these bankruptcies. They might be able to help with connecting folks to another installer to make repairs, finish the installation, or cancel the loan altogether if necessary. Solar installers are subject to most state laws on deceptive and unfair acts and could be subject to federal and state lending laws as well. NCDOJ often investigates complaints against solar installers to make sure no laws have been broken, but it gets harder to investigate once the company has filed for bankruptcy.

While working on this story, WWAY found that a company called Energy Aid may be offering support for customers in similar situations. Buck says he plans to contact them.