What happened

Harness Power was a Pasadena-based solar installer that ran for about six years before closing in the spring of 2023 — by most customer accounts, without warning. In a statement to CBS Los Angeles, the company described the "regrettable closure of Harness Power due to insurmountable financial challenges."

One detail worth stating clearly: as far as public records show, Harness Power closed rather than filing for bankruptcy. We could find no court filing. That is not a technicality — it means there was no trustee, no claims process, and no formal channel through which customers could pursue anything. People simply found that the phone stopped being answered.

Where that left homeowners

CBS Los Angeles documented the fallout across Los Angeles and Orange counties: homeowners with panels on the roof that had never been switched on, one still owing roughly $32,000 on an incomplete system, another with about $70,000 in equipment that did not work. One customer said the company took his down payment seven days before it closed. Customers were told to take it up with their finance companies.

If you are in that group, the position is genuinely bad on the paperwork side and genuinely fixable on the hardware side. We cannot do anything about the money. We can very often finish or fix the system.

What you still have

Equipment warranties from the manufacturers are unaffected. Enphase, SolarEdge, and the panel makers did not go anywhere, and their warranties never depended on Harness. Filing a claim generally requires a licensed contractor to diagnose the failure and handle the documentation — we do that legwork for our customers, and in many cases we can replace failed equipment at no cost to you under the manufacturer's warranty.

The workmanship warranty is the loss. The promise covering wiring, racking, flashing, and roof penetrations was Harness's, and there is no company left to hold to it. That is the practical reality rather than legal advice — if real money is at stake, a lawyer is the right call, not a roofer.

An unfinished install is usually finishable. Panels already on the roof, an interconnection never completed, a permit left open — these are ordinary problems for a licensed contractor. The first step is finding out what was actually done, what was permitted, and what the utility has on record. Our inspection report covers exactly that.

What we do

• A $399 solar and roof inspection report, credited toward your job — production audit against what your system should be making, wiring and connector inspection, and a look at every roof penetration the original crew made. Findings in writing.
• Diagnostics and repair under an active C-10 electrical license — failed microinverters, optimizers, arc faults, rapid-shutdown issues, and the manufacturer warranty claims that go with them.
• Monitoring restoration — getting your Enphase, SolarEdge, or Tesla portal registered under your own name so you can see what the system is actually doing.
• Detach-and-reset for reroofs — we hold roofing (C-39), general building (B), and electrical (C-10) under one company, so one crew removes the array, replaces the roof, and reinstalls the system. No finger-pointing between two contractors.
• Battery retrofits — adding storage to an existing array, sized for NEM 3.0 economics if your system is on the newer tariff.

Estimates are always free — no deposit, no pressure. CSLB #1130793.

Where we work

McKay Roofing and Solar is based in San Diego — 9520 Padgett St, Suite 107 — and has been at this since 1981. We hold a California state contractor's license, CSLB #1130793, covering general building (B), electrical (C-10), and roofing (C-39), and we take work across Southern California. If you are outside San Diego County, call and we will tell you plainly whether we can get a crew to you and what that looks like. We would rather say no on the phone than waste your afternoon.

Not sure who actually installed your system?

Many installs were sold by one company and built by another — the installer of record is on your building permit. We keep a guide for each major closed installer in Southern California; the full directory is here. A few of the big ones:

• Titan Solar Power · SunPower · PetersenDean · Sungevity
• Sullivan Solar Power · Freedom Forever · Vivint Solar · Swell Energy

Worth doing sooner

Open permits and half-finished interconnections do not improve with age, and a roof with penetrations made by a crew that never came back is worth having looked at before the next wet winter. One visit gives you the written picture, and the $399 report is credited in full toward the work if you hire us.