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2026-08-19

My installer guaranteed 91% of quoted output. Year one came in 1,857 kWh under the floor. Here is how I found out, and what the contract said.

2026-08-18

Your monitoring app shows green and you still suspect low output. Here is the test that settles whether your panels underperform, and the proof a claim needs.

2026-08-18

Your electric bill is still high after going solar. Three things cause it, and the arithmetic that tells you which one is yours takes fifteen minutes.

2026-08-18

When your solar installer stops returning calls, documentation is the lever, not persistence. Here is what to collect, in what order, and where to escalate it.

2026-08-01

An Enphase Envoy's local production readout froze at 0 Wh for ten hours while the meter kept counting. What I measured, ruled out, and still don't know.

2026-05-15

The savings calculator your installer ran assumed clear skies, no degradation, and a tariff that no longer exists. What to do with your actual numbers.

Describe your system from six dropdowns, add your ZIP code, and get a modelled annual kWh range for a system like yours in that location. An estimate, not a measurement — the comparison to what you actually produced is the point.

Step-by-step setup for your OwlWatt collector with an Enphase system — from unboxing to your first verified production reading.

When your panels underproduce, the installer blames the inverter and the inverter blames the installer. Here's the right call order and what to say.

How to break out of the finger-pointing loop — the contract structure that makes the installer responsible regardless of equipment.

The 5-step evidence chain: lock the baseline, gather production data, weather-adjust, calculate the dollar gap, package the report.

The 4 contract clauses that decide if you can collect — and what a claim-ready report needs to contain.

Find your guaranteed kWh, compare it to actual production, and weather-adjust the comparison correctly — the three steps to checking whether your installer's guarantee is actually being honored.

Your report documents the shortfall and the installer won't honor the guarantee. The escalation ladder — written demand, state Attorney General complaint, attorney — plus a 15-state AG consumer-protection directory.

A free, fill-in-the-blank written-demand template for a production-guarantee shortfall — when to send it, what to attach, and the figures that make it land. Not legal advice.

How M.G.L. c. 93A applies to a production-guarantee dispute — the 30-day demand letter, double or treble damages, and attorney's fees — cited to the Massachusetts General Laws. Not legal advice.

How California's CLRA (Civ. Code 1750 et seq.) and UCL (Bus. & Prof. Code 17200) apply to a production-guarantee dispute — the CLRA 30-day notice, damages, attorney's fees, and restitution — cited to the California codes. Not legal advice.

How the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (Bus. & Com. Code 17.41 et seq.) applies to a production-guarantee dispute — the 60-day pre-suit notice, economic damages, up to treble damages, and attorney's fees — cited to the Texas statutes. Not legal advice.

How the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (Fla. Stat. 501.201 et seq.) applies to a production-guarantee dispute — actual damages and prevailing-party attorney's fees — cited to the Florida Statutes. Not legal advice.

How the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act (N.J.S.A. 56:8-1 et seq.) applies to a production-guarantee dispute — mandatory treble damages and mandatory attorney's fees under N.J.S.A. 56:8-19 — cited to the New Jersey statutes. Not legal advice.

How New York General Business Law §349 (deceptive acts) and §350 (false advertising) apply to a production-guarantee dispute — actual damages, discretionary treble damages, and attorney's fees — cited to the New York statutes. Not legal advice.

What the mySolarEdge app removed, what still works on the web portal, and how to export your data before more features disappear.

End-to-end: how OwlWatt reads actual Enphase production, runs the NREL expected-output model, adjusts for weather, and produces the timestamped gap report.

NREL's PVWatts model, pvlib, and the exact parameters OwlWatt uses — DC nameplate capacity, tilt, azimuth, install date, system losses. Why the calculation is defensible when an installer pushes back.

The ten-minute check that tells you the panels are on, and the different question that tells you whether they're producing what you were promised.

Installer savings estimates are projections. Your real solar ROI depends on whether your system delivers the promised production — here's how to verify.

Your 4 kW array has never hit 4 kW — temperature derating, inverter clipping, and shading all bite. Here's what's normal and how to spot a real fault.

Enter your system size, state, install year, and actual output for an instant rough check against typical production for your area — then get the precise, contract-grade number.

What underperformance looks like in the data, why it's so easy to miss, and how monitoring catches it before warranty windows close.

When per-panel data matters, when string-level is enough, and what your inverter brand actually exposes.

Inverters, optimizers, microinverters — what fails first, how you'd know, and what your installer owes you.

What the production graph, kWh totals, and panel-level views actually mean — and what your app does not show.

Why comparing to last year or your installer's estimate misleads you, and how a weather-adjusted baseline tells the truth.

UL 3700 is the new US safety standard for plug-in solar. What it covers, which states have legalized balcony solar, real kit prices, and whether it's worth it.

What the production guarantee in your contract actually says, how the baseline is calculated, the guarantee-vs-estimate-vs-warranty distinction, what's excluded, and what the installer is on the hook for.

A step-by-step guide: the documents you need, how to calculate the dollar amount, and how to handle exclusions and deadlines.

Who actually pays when your system misses its promised output — how guarantee-backing insurance works, what it excludes, and the production evidence a claim depends on.

What you keep, what you lose, and exactly what to do in the first 30 days.

Yes — in almost every case you still owe the solar loan. Here is when you might have a dispute case, and what to do right now.

How net metering credits should appear, the common errors, and how to dispute them with paper-trail evidence.

Solar installed but bill still high? Six specific causes — system underperformance, consumption increase, net metering errors, TOU rates, loan payments, or undersizing.

Why payback estimates drift from reality, and the four numbers to check.

Microinverter vs optimizer warranties — what each covers, the claim process, and why your installer's production guarantee still matters more than either.

Enphase Care starts at $399/year, Care+ is quote-gated too — what's covered, what raises the price, and why a service plan isn't a production guarantee.

The 25-year microinverter warranty covers hardware, usually not labor, and never your system's actual output. What it includes, how to file, and the gap it leaves.

Five questions that decide whether the plan earns its price, and the one problem no service plan solves: a system that quietly underproduces while every component works.

The exact clauses to check before you sign — vague remedies, undefined measurement, open-ended weather exclusions, missing degradation schedules, and short claim windows.

A lease rents equipment, a PPA sells electricity. The difference that decides year eight is who carries the risk that the system underproduces, and which contract guarantees output.

Roof size matters more than tree height. What a real site assessment measures, why a summer visit misses winter shade, and a measured skyline from federal LiDAR.

Owned, leased or PPA changes the whole closing. What blocks a sale, how appraisers price solar with PV Value, and the production evidence a buyer's side accepts.

The $4-per-watt figure is real research and a poor answer. What appraisers value with PV Value, why leased systems are excluded, and the one input you control.

How CT-clamp monitors work, how Emporia Vue and Sense differ, and why your Enphase gateway may already measure whole-home use without buying anything.

Net billing cut export credits sharply, so many solar savings estimates now miss badly. How to check actual production against your guarantee, not just your bill.

Plug-in (balcony) solar is DIY — no installer, no contract, no production guarantee, and no net metering in Utah. What that means for what you're buying.

What Sunrun's guarantee covers, what it excludes (weather clauses, shading), and how to build an independent record before a dispute.

SunPower filed for Chapter 11 in 2024. Here is what happened to the production guarantee and what orphaned SunPower customers can still do.

Sunnova's financial situation and what it means for your guarantee — plus how to verify your system independently.

The critical estimate vs. guarantee distinction in Tesla contracts, and how to verify your system with the closed Tesla monitoring ecosystem.

Palmetto LightReach subscription vs. purchased systems — what each guarantees and how to verify independently.

Enphase shows raw production — but not whether it's good enough. Here is what independent verification adds and how to do it.

mySolarEdge removed features homeowners relied on. Here is what still works and how SolarEdge owners can verify their guarantee today.

The 0.5%/year industry assumption, when it breaks, and how to verify your panels are aging on schedule.

Panels rarely stop working, they fade. Expected lifespan, real degradation rates, what fails before the panels do, and how to tell if yours are fading faster than warranted.

Battery warranties are dual-limited on years AND throughput, whichever ends first. What actually degrades them, and the measurement problem a battery introduces.

Snow loss, winter performance, and what to expect from northeast arrays through a full year.

The highest electricity rates in the continental US make New England solar economics uniquely strong — here are the actual numbers by state.

NY-SUN, net metering rules, and what production looks like across NY's climate zones.

NEM 3.0 economics, NEM 2.0 grandfathering, and the SunPower bankruptcy aftermath.

The SMART incentive program pays on production. Make sure you're producing what you should.

Deregulated retail market, ERCOT context, and why your specific REP plan dictates your solar economics.

SREC II to SuSI program transition, and how every kWh of production becomes incentive income.

Extreme-heat derating, dust soiling, and the APS and SRP export-rate landscape.

Hurricane and storm damage, heat and humidity losses, and Florida's net metering rules.

The net metering transition, Duke Energy's landscape, and the state's regional weather variability.