My Solar Panels Stopped Working — What Do I Do?

Check Your Inverter First

The inverter is the most common point of failure — and the most likely to be under warranty. Walk to wherever your inverter is mounted (usually on an exterior wall near your electrical panel or in the garage) and check the status lights.

Green light: Inverter is working — the issue is likely with individual panels or your monitoring app, not a total system failure.
Red or orange light: Inverter fault — this is a warranty claim situation.
No lights at all: Check that the AC disconnect switch is in the ON position and that your circuit breaker for the solar system hasn't tripped.

Check Your Monitoring App

Open your monitoring app — Enphase Enlighten, SolarEdge monitoring, or SunPower mySunPower — and look at today's production graph. This tells you whether your system has been down for hours, days, or weeks.

App shows zero production: Real outage — proceed to Step 3.
App won't load or shows "system offline": Could be a monitoring communication issue, not a panel failure. Try restarting your gateway or hub before assuming the worst.
App is completely inaccessible: If your installer closed and took system access with them, see Step 4 — you can recover monitoring access directly from the manufacturer.

Try to Reset Your Inverter

Before filing a warranty claim, try a manual reset — it resolves roughly 20% of inverter faults.

All inverters: Turn off the AC disconnect switch → wait 60 seconds → turn back on.
Enphase systems: Press and hold the reset button on your IQ Gateway for 5 seconds, or reset via the Enlighten app.
SolarEdge: Use the on/off switch on the inverter itself. Wait 2 minutes before turning back on.
SunPower / Enphase microinverters: Reset the communication gateway — individual microinverters don't have reset buttons.

Contact Your Installer — Or Skip This If They're Gone

If your installer is still in business, call them now and reference your warranty. They are obligated to diagnose and service your system under the workmanship warranty (typically 2–10 years).

If your installer went out of business: Skip to Step 5. Your manufacturer warranty is a direct contract between you and the manufacturer — it survives installer bankruptcies completely. You do not need your installer to file a warranty claim.

File a Manufacturer Warranty Claim Directly

This is your most powerful option — and most homeowners don't realize they can do it without their installer. Every major manufacturer has a direct warranty claims process for homeowners.

You'll need: your panel/inverter brand and model, approximate install year, your address, a description of the issue, and ideally your original purchase documents. The manufacturer will either dispatch a certified technician or send replacement parts directly.

Solar Warranty Navigator generates a complete, manufacturer-specific claim letter and action plan in under 5 minutes — so you don't have to figure out the right contacts, required documentation, or correct language on your own.