The short answer: Sungevity is gone, and so are the companies that took over

Sungevity filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on March 13, 2017 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Its assets were sold out of that bankruptcy, and the buyers kept operating under successor brands — Solar Spectrum and, in Southern California, Horizon Solar Power, which later revived the Sungevity name for sales. In January 2020, those successor operations ceased as well, abruptly. The remaining Sungevity assets were later sold at auction, but for practical purposes there has been no functioning Sungevity service department since early 2020.

That's a hard landing for customers, because Sungevity's model was built on 20-year leases: most of its 2010s-era systems were designed remotely and installed by partner crews, then supported by a service organization that no longer exists.

McKay Roofing & Solar is not affiliated with Sungevity and did not acquire its assets. We're a San Diego contractor that services the systems its closure left behind.

What Sungevity's shutdown means for your system

Three things matter for a homeowner with a Sungevity-installed system in San Diego:

Your workmanship warranty is typically gone. The installation warranty — the promise to fix leaks at penetrations, wiring faults, and racking issues — was a promise from the installing company. When a company liquidates and its successors close, that promise typically dies with it. (This is general information, not legal advice; lease paperwork varies, and if your lease was owned by a third-party finance company, that agreement may have its own service provisions worth reading closely.)

Manufacturer warranties usually survive. Sungevity systems from the 2010s commonly used SMA Sunny Boy or Fronius string inverters and Enphase M-Series microinverters (M190/M215/M250), along with panels from various manufacturers. Panel product and performance warranties, and equipment warranties from SMA, Fronius, and Enphase, come from the manufacturer — not the installer — and generally remain valid. The catch is that manufacturers replace equipment; they don't send a crew to your roof. McKay handles the claim legwork: we diagnose the failure, file with the manufacturer, and do the physical swap. In many cases we can replace failed equipment at no cost to you under the manufacturer's warranty — our inspection report tells us whether you qualify.

Monitoring may have gone dark. If your production data flowed through Sungevity's or Solar Spectrum's customer portal, it likely stopped updating years ago. Enphase Envoy and SMA/Fronius monitoring can usually be re-pointed to homeowner-facing accounts — but many customers don't discover their system quit producing until a high utility bill shows up. On a 10-to-15-year-old string inverter, that's not a rare event: this equipment is now reaching end of life, and failed SMA and Fronius units are one of the most common service calls we see from this era.

What McKay Roofing & Solar can do for Sungevity customers in San Diego

We service orphaned solar systems every week, and the Sungevity-era equipment set is familiar territory. For any Sungevity, Solar Spectrum, or Horizon Solar Power system in San Diego County, we offer:

• A $399 system and roof inspection report — credited toward your job — production test, wiring and penetration inspection, and an honest written read on remaining equipment life.
• Diagnostics and repair under an active C-10 electrical license — string inverter replacement, microinverter swaps, arc-fault and ground-fault troubleshooting.
• Monitoring restoration — getting Enphase Enlighten or SMA/Fronius monitoring back online in your own name, so you can see your production again.
• Detach-and-reset for reroofs — as a licensed roofing contractor and solar contractor under one roof, we remove, store, and reinstall your array around a reroof without a second contractor in the loop.
• Battery retrofit — many 2010s lease systems predate home batteries; we can evaluate whether adding storage makes sense with your equipment and rate plan.

One company, one license covering B, C-10, and C-39 work — CSLB #1130793. Call (858) 541-1097.

If you're still under a Sungevity lease

Many Sungevity customers lease rather than own. Leases were typically held by third-party financing entities, and payment obligations generally continued even after the installer closed. Bring your lease paperwork to your inspection — we'll help you sort out what the finance company is responsible for and what it isn't, before you pay for anything out of pocket.

Why San Diego homeowners call McKay

We've been working on San Diego roofs since 1981, and we build our solar work on that roofing foundation — because most orphaned-system problems eventually come back to the roof. We won't pretend to hold Sungevity's install records or honor its warranties; nobody can honestly promise that. What we can do is put a licensed local crew on your roof, get your system producing, and be here the next time you call.