What actually happened to Swell

Swell Energy was a Los Angeles company that did something unusual: instead of just selling you a battery, it enrolled your battery in a virtual power plant — a network of home batteries the utility can call on during peak demand, with the homeowner paid for participating. Swell ran those programs with all three California investor-owned utilities: San Diego Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, and PG&E. In May 2021 it announced a battery offer aimed at 8,000 customers across Southern California.

In August 2024 Swell said it was winding down its operations. Some later reporting describes it as a restructuring away from consumer installation rather than a full shutdown. The distinction matters to lawyers; it does not change the practical situation for you. Swell no longer installs or services home batteries in Southern California. If something on your system fails, you need a licensed local contractor.

What you still have, and what you don't

Your equipment warranty is intact. A Tesla Powerwall, LG, Enphase, or SolarEdge warranty is a promise from the manufacturer, not from Swell. Those companies are still operating and those warranties survive whatever happened to the installer. The catch is procedural: filing a claim generally requires a licensed contractor to diagnose the failure, document it, pull the part, and handle the paperwork. 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.

Your installation warranty is a different story. The promise that covered the electrical work, the mounting, and any roof penetrations came from the installer. When the installer is gone, that promise usually has no one behind it. That is the practical reality, not legal advice.

Your financing agreement continues. A loan or lease is a separate contract with a separate company. It does not cancel because the installer wound down. If you are unsure who holds yours, the paperwork from your original install names them.

Your VPP enrollment and payments are between you and the utility program. We are a contractor, not a program administrator — questions about whether you are still enrolled or still being credited go to SDG&E or SCE. What we can tell you is whether the hardware itself is healthy enough to be worth staying enrolled.

The problem nobody warns battery owners about

A home battery is not a set-it-and-forget-it appliance. Cells degrade, inverters fault, firmware falls behind, and the monitoring that was supposed to tell you tends to go quiet first — especially when the portal was set up under the installer's account rather than your own. We regularly find batteries that have been sitting at partial capacity, or not cycling at all, for the better part of a year. The homeowner had no idea, because the app still opened and still showed a screen.

What we do for orphaned battery systems

• A $399 system and roof inspection report, credited toward your job — battery state of health, inverter and connector inspection, production audit if you also have solar, 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 inverters, communication faults, rapid-shutdown issues, and the manufacturer warranty claims that go with them.
• Monitoring restoration — getting your Tesla, Enphase, or SolarEdge portal registered under your own name so you can actually see what your system is doing.
• Detach-and-reset for reroofs — we hold roofing (C-39), general building (B), and electrical (C-10) licenses under one company, so one crew removes the array, replaces the roof, and reinstalls the system. No finger-pointing between two contractors.
• Adding or expanding storage — sizing more capacity onto an existing array, with NEM 3.0 economics in mind if your system is on the newer tariff.

Estimates are always free. One company, one license set — B, C-10, and C-39 — CSLB #1130793. Call (858) 541-1097.

Was your solar installer one of these too?

Plenty of Swell battery customers also have panels from a company that has since closed. We keep a guide for each of the major failed installers in San Diego:

• Titan Solar Power · SunPower · PetersenDean · Sungevity
• Sullivan Solar Power · Vivint Solar · SolarCity · Freedom Forever
• Or start at the full directory of closed solar and roofing contractors.

Why it is worth checking now rather than later

Equipment claims are easiest to file while serial numbers, install paperwork, and part records are still straightforward to match. A battery that has quietly lost capacity is also a battery that is not earning its keep — and if you are still making a payment on it either way, that gap is money. One visit tells you where you stand, and the $399 report is credited in full toward any work you hire us for.