Simply Solar LLC Files for Bankruptcy: What Southern California Homeowners Need to Know

Simply Solar LLC Files for Bankruptcy: What Southern California Homeowners Need to Know

If you have panels, a battery, or an EV charger installed by Simply Solar LLC, the Rancho Cucamonga-based installer that served Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and Imperial counties, you need to know what just happened to the company behind your system.



On July 24, 2026, Simply Solar LLC filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Subchapter V, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California. The company, founded in 2013 and reportedly responsible for more than 1,000 residential and commercial solar projects across the region, listed liabilities of roughly $2.5 million against assets of only $168,250. That's a debt-to-asset ratio homeowners should pay close attention to, because it directly affects whether the company can keep honoring service and warranty commitments while it restructures.

This is now the third Southern California-adjacent solar filing of 2026, following Freedom Forever's April Chapter 11 case and Harness Power's abrupt shutdown. If your installer's name keeps showing up in bankruptcy headlines, it's not a coincidence — it's a pattern, and it's one California Solar Exit has been tracking closely.

The Case Details

• Filing date: July 24, 2026
• Court: U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Central District of California
• Case number: 6:26-bk-16000
• Chapter: 11, Subchapter V (small business reorganization)
• Estimated assets: $100,001–$500,000
• Estimated liabilities: $1,000,001–$10,000,000
• Estimated creditors: 50–99
• Company representative: Anita Bradbury
• Legal counsel: Michael Jay Berger, Law Offices of Michael Jay Berger
• Largest listed unsecured creditors: Fora Financial, American Express, Lendistry SBLC LLC, Sepulveda Partners Consulting LLC, and others
• Equity holders: Anita C. Bradbury, Jason W. Dickey, and Sergio Sanchez (30% each), Jeana R. Caminero (10%)

These figures come from the company's own bankruptcy schedules, filed with the court and accessible through PACER, the federal judiciary's public records system.

What Chapter 11 Subchapter V Actually Means for You

Subchapter V is a streamlined reorganization track Congress created for small businesses. It's meant to move faster and cost less than a standard Chapter 11 — but the core mechanics that matter to homeowners are the same:

• Chapter 11 is a reorganization, not a shutdown. Simply Solar has told the court it intends to keep operating. That's different from a Chapter 7 liquidation, where a company sells off its assets and closes permanently.
• Your contract doesn't disappear. Whether it's a lease, PPA, or loan, the underlying agreement is treated as a company asset. It can be kept, renegotiated, or sold to another servicer — but bankruptcy alone doesn't cancel your payment obligation.
• If your financing runs through a third-party lender — Mosaic, GoodLeap, Sunlight Financial, or a similar solar-specific lender — that loan is likely unaffected by Simply Solar's filing itself. You keep paying the lender under the original terms.
• If Simply Solar financed you directly, that loan gets treated as a company asset and will likely be sold to a new servicer during the case.
• Warranty coverage is the biggest question mark. Workmanship warranties tied to the installer (as opposed to equipment manufacturer warranties) are frequently among the first things renegotiated or dropped in a small-business reorganization.

Where This Fits Into California's Solar Bankruptcy Wave

Simply Solar isn't an isolated case — it's the latest entry in a run of installer failures that's reshaping who's still standing in California's residential solar market. Freedom Forever, once the second-largest residential installer in the country, filed Chapter 11 in Delaware in April 2026 with an estimated 190,000 systems nationwide affected. Around the same time, Harness Power shut down entirely, leaving customers with unfinished systems and no company to call. Further back, SunPower and Sunnova each went through their own Chapter 11 proceedings, and Mosaic — a major solar lender many of these installers depended on — filed its own bankruptcy in 2025.

The common thread isn't mismanagement at any single company. It's Net Energy Metering 3.0 cutting the payback on new installations, rising interest rates making solar financing harder to sell, and shrinking lending relationships pulling the floor out from under smaller regional installers with less cash cushion. Simply Solar's $168,250 in assets against $2.5 million in liabilities is a textbook example of that squeeze.

Red Flags Simply Solar Customers Should Watch For

• Calls or emails going unanswered, or phone lines forwarding straight to voicemail
• Scheduled maintenance, inspections, or service calls being cancelled or repeatedly delayed
• Monitoring app data freezing or no longer updating
• A pending installation that stalls mid-project with no completion date
• Any notice that your loan or lease has been "assigned" or "transferred" to a new servicer without clear documentation of who that servicer is
• Pressure from a different company reaching out and using the bankruptcy news to rush you into a new contract before you've reviewed your options

Your Rights Right Now

You have more leverage here than it might feel like. A few paths worth knowing about:

The FTC Holder Rule. If Simply Solar arranged financing for you through a third-party lender, the FTC Holder Rule lets you raise claims against that lender directly — the lender can't hide behind the installer's bankruptcy to avoid them.

CSLB and regulatory complaints. Simply Solar, like any California solar contractor, is licensed and regulated. Filing a complaint with the CSLB, CPUC, or California Attorney General's office creates a documented record, which matters both for your individual case and for any broader enforcement action.

UCC-1 lien awareness. If your system was financed with a loan, there's likely a UCC-1 financing statement filed against your property. That lien follows the loan, not the installer — worth confirming who currently holds it as this case moves forward.

Documentation is your foundation. Screenshot your monitoring app, photograph your system, and save every piece of correspondence with Simply Solar starting now. If service abandonment becomes a pattern, that record supports a contract rescission or cancellation claim.

What To Do Next

1. Pull your original contract and loan or lease paperwork together in one place.
2. Confirm whether your financing is with Simply Solar directly or a third-party lender.
3. Try contacting the company and document the outcome, whether it's silence, a working line, or a redirect to a new servicer.
4. File a complaint with the CSLB if you're experiencing service abandonment.
5. Get a free contract review before signing anything with a new company that reaches out to you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Simply Solar LLC going out of business?
Not necessarily. A Chapter 11 Subchapter V filing is a reorganization, and the company has told the court it intends to continue operating during the process. That said, small-business Chapter 11 cases don't always end in a successful reorganization — some convert to liquidation if the debtor can't execute a viable plan.

Do I still have to pay my solar loan or lease?
Generally yes, unless your agreement is with a lender that becomes insolvent or you have documented grounds — like abandoned service — to challenge the contract. California Solar Exit doesn't advise for or against payment or non-payment of any financial obligation; that determination depends on your specific contract and circumstances.

Will my warranty still be honored?
It depends on whether the warranty is backed by the equipment manufacturer or by Simply Solar itself. Manufacturer warranties on panels, inverters, and batteries typically survive an installer's bankruptcy. Installer-backed workmanship warranties are the ones most at risk during a reorganization.

If you're a Simply Solar customer trying to figure out where you stand, or you're dealing with any installer bankruptcy or shutdown across California, our team can walk through your specific contract and financing situation at no cost.

Call (213) 579-5156 or request a free solar contract review.

— Daniel Merritt, Senior Solar Contract Analyst, California Solar Exit