ORLANDO, Fla. – The dream of lower electric bills is turning into a rooftop nightmare for some homeowners across Central Florida.
In just two years, a wave of major solar companies has filed for bankruptcy, the latest being Freedom Forever in April of this year, leaving customers confused, frustrated, and stuck with systems they don’t know how to manage.
Susan Bradley and Norman Beyer say the solar panels on their roof aren’t a symbol of energy savings; they are a reminder of what the couple calls the biggest financial mistake of their lives.
“I’m 74, he’s 80. I have made a few blunders in life. I will say this is probably the biggest one,” Bradley said.
The couple had been considering going solar when a door-to-door salesperson came knocking.
“He said, ‘If you’d like to talk to somebody and get some information,’ and I said yes,” Bradley recalled. “Should’ve said no, but I said yes.”
The pitch was straightforward: lower power bills and energy independence. The company, Freedom Forever, moved fast. Less than a week after signing the contract, crews were already on their roof.
“I do believe that was the reason they got them up there so fast because once they had them on the roof, we were in with them and there was no way out,” Beyer said.
Before they could even determine whether their panels were working, an email arrived from Freedom Forever, one of the largest residential solar installers in the country, announcing it was filing for bankruptcy.
“We’ve got this thing on our roof, and no idea what to do with it,” Bradley said. “We never saw this coming.”