The rooftop solar industry might be in freefall and on the way out, but the damage of bad performance and long-term contracts endures. [some emphasis, links added]
The New York Times article, “New York Sues Solar Panel Firm, Saying It Bilked Hundreds of Customers” (January 29, 2026), explains how the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection is seeking almost $20 million in restitution and penalties from ‘home improvement contractor’ Radiant Solar.
In all, “300 victims of the same company, Radiant Solar, which left a trail of damaged homes, large debts and broken promises across the city,” the article reported:
“It was able to do so in part because home solar energy systems are complicated, expensive things — they often cost around $50,000 — typically involving layers of financing and tax incentives that leave many consumers confused.
“The city says that in addition to ripping off homeowners, Radiant undermined the efforts of the city and state governments to shift to cleaner energy.”
CEO William James Bushell joins Sunnova’s John Berger and others in the business Hall of Shame.
“According to the lawsuit, filed with the city’s Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings, Radiant’s solar panel systems often failed to deliver the energy savings it had advertised and sometimes did not work at all.
“The company padded loans with hefty and undisclosed kickbacks to lenders, failed to see projects through to approval by the city and did not file paperwork for customers to receive tax credits, the suit says. It also ran a bogus sweepstakes for a new Tesla, according to the suit.
“Radiant repeatedly signed people up for loans without their consent, the city claims, saddling them with monthly payments of hundreds of dollars for years. ‘A more blatant form of deception is hard to imagine,’ the lawsuit says.”
A Wide Problem
The subsidy-infested rooftop solar industry is all about making a highly uneconomic enterprise economic through complicated long-term leasing contracts.
Numerous leading rooftop solar firms are bankrupt.
Part II tomorrow will update the mess created by the demise of Sunnova, the largest company in this solar space.
Part III on Friday will share a social media exchange with a rooftop solar apologist, where the weakest argument is mistakenly made rather than remaining silent.
Read more at MasterResource
