3 Signs Your Solar Panels Are Underperforming (And Quietly Costing You Money)

If your solar installer is still around, great. But across Arizona, hundreds of installers have shut their doors — and when they go, nobody's left watching your system. Your panels don't send you a text when they underperform. They just quietly make less power while your electric bill climbs.

Here are three warning signs:

1. Your electric bill is creeping up — and you assume it's "just the rates"

Rates do rise. But a system that's lost 15–25% of its production to a failed microinverter, heavy dust soiling (hello, monsoon season), or a wiring issue looks exactly the same on your bill. Most owners never suspect the panels.

2. Your monitoring app shows an error, a panel "offline," or production flatlines

Codes like "DC-AC inversion fault" mean nothing to most homeowners, so they get ignored. Sometimes it's a free reset. Sometimes it's a $1,500 problem getting worse. Ignoring it is the most expensive option.

3. Your warranties are ticking and nobody's tracking them

Inverters typically carry 10–12 year warranties; panels 25 years. Miss the window by a month and a free replacement becomes a $2,000 out-of-pocket bill. Your installer was supposed to remind you. They're gone.

What to do about it

You don't need a salesperson at your door. You need someone to look at what your system is actually producing versus what it should produce — and tell you in plain English.

That's why we built PanelSitter's free solar health check: send us your system info (two minutes, no hardware, no passwords), and within 48 hours you get a plain-English verdict — healthy, needs attention, or losing money — plus your warranty countdown.

Get My Free Health Check — panelsitter.com

If your installer is no longer available, read our Freedom Forever bankruptcy guide for Arizona solar homeowners for practical steps on equipment warranties, monitoring access, and finding qualified service.