For homeowners · free to ask

Solar help that's on your side.

Straight answers about your solar and battery, and a SunService Certified™ pro who finds the real problem and prices it fairly, even if your original installer is gone.

What's your system doing? Tap one to start your request.

Burning smell, sparks, or a hot or scorched panel or disconnect?

Shut the system off and call a licensed electrician, or 911 if there's fire or smoke. Low production or an offline app matters, but it isn't an emergency.

Book a service

Tell us what's happening

A person reads every request and connects you with a SunService Certified™ pro in your area. No spam, just help getting your solar working again.

You send the symptom and your ZIP

A screenshot from your monitoring app helps. Mention it in the notes.

A certified pro gets in touch

They work on any brand and price the job from the SunService Labor Guide™.

You approve before any repair

Nothing is repaired until you approve the price.

By submitting you agree to be contacted about your request. See our Privacy Policy.
Your homeowner portal

Your system, in one place

When your service company runs on Sun Service, it can give you a private portal link. You'll see what your system is making, what's been done to it, what it's cost, and how to reach your pro. There's no app to install.

Sample portalSample portal home: energy flow drawn over the house
Sample portalSample portal: equipment and warranties
Sample portalSample portal: service plan and requests
  • See your energy come alive. Solar, battery, grid and EV flows drawn over your home, with the time of the last reading.
  • Every panel, inverter and warranty. Know what's on your roof and how long it's covered.
  • Visits, invoices and service requests. Ask for a call or a visit, and it lands with your pro.
  • Send your power bill. Photograph a utility bill and the numbers reach your pro.

The sample portal uses example figures. Yours shows your own system.

Ask Dr. Volt™ New

Plain-English answers about your system, any time

Dr. Volt is the AI technician certified pros use, and it's in your portal too. Ask what a light means, why production dipped, or whether it can wait. When it can't, one tap requests a visit.

In the homeowner portal from a service company that uses Sun Service.

Ask Dr. Volt™● in your homeowner portal
Example chat
My app says some microinverters aren't reporting. Is my system broken?
Not necessarily. "Not reporting" usually means the panels can't talk to the gateway, not that they've stopped making power. Check that the gateway near your electrical panel has power. If they're still missing tomorrow, tap Request a visit in your portal.
OK, I'll check the gateway tonight.
Service plans

Keep it producing, not just working

Solar is low-maintenance, not no-maintenance. Certified companies offer yearly plans that catch faults before they cost you a season of production.

A yearly visit

A scheduled check of panels, wiring, inverter and battery, written up for your records.

Panel cleaning

Soiled panels quietly lose output. Plans can include a cleaning, booked for you.

Monitoring someone watches

Your pro can see when production drops or a device stops reporting.

Each certified company sets its own plans and prices. Ask your pro during your visit.

Solar & home energy 101

Understand your system

A little knowledge goes a long way. Here's what every solar homeowner should know, in plain English.

How your system actually works

Panels make DC power, an inverter (string or microinverters) converts it to the AC your home uses, and anything extra flows to the grid or your battery. Knowing which parts you have makes every service call faster.

Why production goes up and down

Output naturally falls in winter, on cloudy days, and as panels soil up. A sustained drop, though, usually means a tripped breaker, a comms fault, or a failed microinverter — worth checking, not ignoring.

Reading your monitoring app

Apps like Enphase, SolarEdge, Tesla, or FranklinWH show per-panel or system production. A flat line or "microinverters not reporting" is your early-warning light — screenshot it before you call.

Batteries & backup, explained

A battery stores solar for night use and can back up your home in an outage — but only the circuits it's wired to. If it won't island during an outage, that's a real fault worth a certified look.

Maintenance that actually matters

Solar is low-maintenance, not no-maintenance: keep panels reasonably clean, watch your monitoring monthly, and address comms or inverter faults early before they cost you a season of production.

Net metering & your savings

Most savings come from offsetting what you'd buy from the utility plus credits for what you export. If your bill jumped, lost production — not the rate plan — is often the real culprit.

If your installer closed

You're not stuck. Your warranty on the equipment often still stands with the manufacturer, and a SunService Certified™ pro can service any brand and handle the diagnosis and repair.

Why it matters

Why a SunService Certified™ company

With installers closing and orphaned systems everywhere, "certified" should mean something.

Verified, tested skills

Technicians pass role and tier exams, from Solar Intern to Master Technician, grounded in the SunService Repair Guide™.

Fair, flat-rate pricing

Jobs are priced from the SunService Labor Guide™: the same fair rate for the same work.

Any brand, any installer

Certified pros service systems from any manufacturer or installer, and credentials are recertified every two years.

Questions

Homeowner FAQ

Why is my solar producing less than it used to?

Production naturally rises and falls with the seasons and weather, but a sustained drop often points to a tripped breaker, a communications or monitoring fault, a failed microinverter or optimizer, soiling on the panels, or shading that has grown in over time. A certified pro can pull your monitoring data to pinpoint which it is.

My solar installer went out of business. Who fixes my system?

You do not need your original installer. A SunService Certified™ repair company can service systems from any brand or installer, diagnose the issue, and quote the repair with fair, flat-rate pricing from the SunService Labor Guide™.

What will a repair cost?

Your pro prices the work from the SunService Labor Guide™, a flat-rate standard written for solar, and shows you the price first. Nothing is repaired until you approve it.

Is low production an emergency?

Usually not, but it is worth checking soon. A burning smell, sparks, or a hot or scorched panel or disconnect is an emergency: shut the system off and call for help now.

How do I know a solar repair company is trustworthy?

Ask if they are SunService Certified™. Certified companies have technicians who pass role and tier exams, price jobs from the SunService Labor Guide™ so the same job costs the same fair rate, and carry verifiable credentials that are recertified every two years.

How do I get a homeowner portal?

If your service company runs on Sun Service, it can send you a private portal link. You can open the sample portal to see what it looks like.

Prefer to browse?

The SunService Certified™ directory of solar repair companies whose teams are trained, tested and accountable.