My solar installer went out of business. Who do I pay now?

Most home solar loans and leases are owned by a lender or investor, not by the installer who put the panels on the roof. When an installer fails, the financing contract usually continues, because it is a separate agreement with whoever owns it.

Contracts are often sold or handed to a new owner or servicer, and you should have been told when that happened. Payments go to whoever the current notice says. If your payments are going to a company you do not recognize, check that a written notice of transfer or servicer change exists before you change anything.

A lien or a filing may also have been recorded against the home or the equipment, often in county records or with the state. It can stay on record until the owner of the contract releases it. This matters most when you sell or refinance, because the title company will ask for the release.

This is general background and rules differ by state. It is not legal advice.

What to check

• Your original contract, and any notice that it was sold or that a new company services it.
• The name on your latest statement, compared with the name on the contract.
• County and state records for any filing against the home or equipment.
• A written payoff figure and a written release from the current owner before you sell or refinance.

Related

• Search a solar installer or lender
• Solar companies we track
• About HelioTelemetry
• All explainers

Reviewed October 26, 2026. General background, not legal or investment advice.