How to Pick a Lawyer to File a Suit Against a Solar Company

Reasons To File A Claim Against A Solar Firm

There are several reasons someone might consider suing over a solar power system. In some cases, the problems may be with the actual installation or the contract that the consumer signed with the solar company. Often, a consumer may have plenty of reason to sue a solar company because the system did not perform as promised, or nowhere close to it. Some lawsuits involve solar companies overstating the expected savings. Others involve faulty equipment, and in rare cases there is outright fraud.
Faulty Installation: When a solar company installs equipment improperly, they may need to be sued. When this happens, there is usually a claim for damages. Similar to a breach of contract, there is also usually a claim for violation of the Consumer Fraud Act.
Contract Dispute: If the solar company broke the contract , or the customer feels that the company did not follow the contract, they may be able to sue to enforce the contract–especially if they lost money due to the company breaking it. There is also usually a fraud claim in these situations, as well.
Breach of Performance Guarantee: If the solar company guaranteed, for example, that a system would produce a certain amount annually, they must live up to that guarantee. If they do not, the customer may have a viable claim for a breach of contract.
Deceptive Sales Practices: If a solar company made misrepresentations regarding, for example, the amount of savings a consumer would receive by installing their solar power system or a green energy system, a claim for deceptive sales practices is available.

Determine The Strength Of Your Case Against A Solar Company

When solar panels go bad, sometimes the homeowner just wants the panels removed. But in other situations, the panels were purchased on credit and the homeowner wants their money back. Or the panels are still under warranty, but the solar company went out of business. Or there was a storm that damaged the equipment while it was under a warranty. Or maybe a family member moved in with the homeowner for an extended stay and the extra power was not needed. There are many reasons why you might need money back from a solar company.
The first step in evaluating your case against a solar company is to identify what you want from them. Do you want monetary compensation or do you just want the company to live up to their contractual obligations? Secondly, you have to evaluate the quality of the evidence that you have to support your case. This means gathering the, hopefully physical, evidence that you require to support your case from pictures of water damage and leaks to invoices, contracts, and warranties, physical evidence is critical. The third step is understanding the terms of your agreement, how long is the contract for, what are the payment terms, and what are the penalties for late payments or defaulting on the contract? Finally, the last step is to contact an attorney specialized in breach of contract or breach of warranty litigation cases to assist you in determining whether you have a case.

How To Select An Attorney To File A Complaint Against A Solar Company

When selecting a lawyer to sue a solar company, the like other legal matters, there are many factors that need to be considered before making a decision. We have handled more than 1,000 cases involving solar panels and power purchase contracts ("PPA") across the county; we have the experience and expertise that you need to get the most money as fast as possible.
Although there can never be a guarantee of any outcome in any case, we have a proven track record of success; we have been very successful at getting our clients’ money. We will be able to find a solution that is right for you. Here are some factors to consider:
Experience: find an attorney with specific experience suing solar companies. Solar Energy law is highly specialized. You want to work with a firm that understands this industry.
Questions: ask your attorney questions about your particular case. If you don’t understand something, ask for clarification. Make sure your attorney will answer you in a simple and easy-to-understand language that you can understand.
Legal Fees: are there fees if you do not win? Will the firm take no fees if you do not get any money? Will the firm charge me if I do not have money to pay for the case? In California, we work on a contingency. This means you don’t pay unless we obtain a settlement or judgment on your behalf.

The Process Of Filing A Case Against A Solar Business

If the prior steps of the process are not successful, it may be necessary to bring a case in court to force the solar company to reimburse damages to you. This process involves filing suit in Ohio, which begins with an initial consultation with what is often termed a litigation attorney. This type of attorney has experience in taking claims to trial before a judge or jury. While many residential claims are settled out of court through negotiation, some others require trial as a solution.
The lawsuit process begins with a consultation, which is an opportunity to review the prior steps of the process to determine if it is worth bringing a case against the solar company. If so, this meeting will usually include a detailed discussion of the issues, including an explanation of the lawsuit process and others, so full transparency is obtained by the parties. Preparing for this initial consultation is important.
The lawsuit process has several differences from the initial claims process other than the need to return to court to file the lawsuit. If the case is not settled or the issue resolved by mediation , the matter that is in dispute goes through the process of court, which involves filing the case as appropriate and going through all of the steps of the discovery process to determine if a settlement is possible or the case should move forward to litigation to determine a verdict, or formal decision. Mediation efforts are sometimes included as part of the discovery process rather than prior to the filing of the lawsuit.
Once the matter is determined by the court to be resolved or able to go to trial, there are additional court meetings to prepare for trial. This is sometimes a long process, because the attorneys need sufficient time to be completely ready to represent their clients. From initial claim filing to resolution or trial can take several months in most situations. The process is complete when a settlement is made, or a verdict is determined by the court if no settlement can be reached.

Common Issues In A Lawsuit Against A Solar Company

The most common challenges to successfully suing a solar company involve various technical limitations (in the physical systems themselves and the contracts) as well as the difficulty of negotiating with the largest corporations in the world.
First, solar company lawsuits require a nuanced understanding of the physical system—not just the one on the roof, but the network of solar panel and battery-based power cells, and electrical components; these systems require a substantial amount of training to install and understand. Those issues can be incredibly complex and difficult to understand for the intended users, who can easily be fooled by simple user error on the user interface, the touch screen through which the system is monitored.
Second, plaintiffs suing solar companies may face challenges arising from the extreme size of the corporations they are litigating against. Solar panels are typically manufactured by large multi-national corporations that contract with local companies to install and service solar equipment throughout the United States. Not unlike litigating against large corporations ordinarily, when a plaintiff sues the manufacturer, the lawsuit often leads to attempts to shift liability to the installers, or vice versa. Each corporation fights to shift liability to the other and protect the money in their own pocket, all while each lawyer’s hourly rates are paid handsomely. Meanwhile, experiencing the problem that led to the lawsuit in the first place, the plaintiff continues to move forward with the process without resolution of the issue that led to the problem or an ability for those involved to move forward.
Moreover, many larger companies have their own legal departments that manage their legal work. Lawyers are constantly being paid by the hour to litigate cases filed against those multi-national corporations. Unfortunately, even when a company admits liability, very few corporations want to pay the bill to repair an issue or make a good faith attempt to make a disgruntled customer happy. They hope for the customer to be frustrated enough to give up the lawsuit and go away. That creates issues for the plaintiff seeking justice against a multi-national corporation and provides challenges to resolving the issues persisting post-sale of the solar equipment or installation of solar panels.
Finally, one more challenge to the lawsuit process when litigating against a solar company relates to public relations. Because solar energy is such a highly sought after product, and solar energy is thought of as "green," or good for the planet, many plaintiffs face backlash for suing a solar company. Everyone generally wants to use and promote renewable energy. However, that doesn’t mean there are not instances where problems occur and customers are left with expensive repairs on their newly installed solar panels or solar energy equipment.

Alternatives To A Lawsuit Against A Solar Company

For some, the threat of litigation is enough to bring a solar company back to the bargaining table, if even for a moment. However, in most cases, it is not, and the company will respond with the same script: "We are not going to continue to work on your project until you have made all of the payments required under the agreement."
If court action is a consideration, it is worth looking into whether resorting to litigation is the only option. You may have heard that a case has been mediated rather than taken to trial. Or that a binding decision has been made by an arbitrator. Mediation and arbitration are both alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods that can, in some circumstances, prevent floodgates of court filings.
Depending upon how your contract is worded, it may provide that any disputes arising from the agreement go straight to arbitration or mediation . Binding arbitration, for instance, is like court in that both parties must be present and have an opportunity to be heard, though without the courtroom setting and likely a much shorter timeframe to a resolution than what can happen in court. From a pragmatic standpoint, and for expediency sake, this ADR route is often better than going to trial, where delays ranging from months to years are more probable.
Likewise, mediation is not as formal a process as arbitration in that the parties are not bound to resolution if one side remains unwilling to budge. If, however, both parties agree to mediation, it can save a lot of time and money in circumstances where both sides have something they stand to gain in going through the process.
Whether it is a mediation, arbitration, or litigation, ultimately the best possible outcome is both sides reaching an agreement acceptable to both. In that case, it does not matter what was agreed to resolve or narrow a disputed issue or even whether gone to trial, as that amount of cooperation and collaboration is to be commended.