How to Document a Solar Outage for a Lease or PPA Credit

Many solar leases and PPAs include a performance guarantee: if the system produces less than promised, the company owes you a credit or refund. EnergySage, for example, reports that Sunrun compensates customers if production falls below 90% of the estimate (with exceptions in some states). Solar Power World advises Freedom Forever customers to check for a performance guarantee or uptime clause and to document any outage with photos of monitoring data.

Step 1: Find the clause in your contract

Search your lease or PPA for “performance guarantee”, “production guarantee”, “uptime” or “estimated production”. Note:

• The guaranteed amount (often a percentage of estimated yearly production).
• How often it is measured (yearly, or over several years).
• How to make a claim and the deadline.

Step 2: Record when the outage started

• Screenshot your monitoring app showing zero or low production, with dates visible.
• Photograph the inverter display and any error lights or codes.
• Photograph your utility meter, or download hourly usage data from your utility account – it shows when your home stopped exporting power.

Step 3: Report it in writing

Email or use the online form of the company that bills you. Include your account number, the date production stopped, photos and a request for repair and a production credit. Save the confirmation. Call notes are useful too, but written reports are easier to prove.

Step 4: Keep logging until it is fixed

Take a weekly screenshot or meter photo until the system is repaired. If the company is slow, your records show exactly how long the system was down.

Step 5: Estimate what you lost

Compare the outage period with the same months last year in your monitoring app, or with the production estimate in your contract. Our solar estimates by state show typical monthly output if you have no history.

If the company will not respond

• Follow up in writing, quoting the contract clause.
• If the company closed, contact whoever now services the contract – see our solar orphans guide.
• File a complaint with your state attorney general and the FTC if you get no answer.

Outage log template

Date	What you saw	Evidence saved	Who you contacted	Reference number
e.g. 3 March	App shows 0 kWh since 28 Feb; inverter red light	Screenshot, inverter photo	Lease company online form	#12345

Copy this into a spreadsheet and add a row every time something changes or you contact the company.

Sample claim email

Subject: Production outage and performance guarantee – account [number]
Hello, my system at [address] stopped producing on [date] (monitoring screenshots and inverter photo attached). I reported it on [date], reference [number]. Please (1) schedule a repair and (2) confirm how lost production will be credited under the performance guarantee in section [x] of my agreement. Thank you, [name].

Using utility data

Most utilities let you download hourly or daily usage from your online account. On a normal sunny day a solar home shows low or negative net use around midday. If that pattern disappears, it is strong evidence of when the system stopped – and the utility’s data is independent of the solar company’s app.

How credits are usually calculated

Contracts differ, but performance guarantees commonly compare actual production over a period with a guaranteed amount and pay for the shortfall at a rate set in the contract. Read your agreement for the exact method and ask the company to show its calculation.