SunPower Customers Press Manufacturer Waaree on Warranty Claims

When solar panel company SunPower Corp. filed for bankruptcy last year, customers looking for warranty help found themselves at the mercy of parts providers, one of which was unprepared for the influx of claims.

Products from Waaree Energies Ltd., India’s largest solar PV module maker, were used in many SunPower panels. But SunPower didn’t include Waaree in a list of parts makers honoring warranties. The omission, along with Waaree’s silence for months, prompted concerned SunPower customers to seek confirmation that their coverage was still valid.

A company’s bankruptcy often poses hurdles for customers. But the trouble some SunPower customers say they experienced in trying to contact Waaree extends beyond the usual complications that arise in a solar company bankruptcy.

Solar installers and homeowners say they’ve struggled to register warranties, file claims, or get assurance that their 25-year coverage from Waaree will be honored, according to interviews and complaints filed with the Federal Trade Commission, the Better Business Bureau, and the Texas Attorney General.

SunPower had nearly 600,000 customers before it entered bankruptcy in August 2024 to sell off its assets.

For months after SunPower’s filing, Waaree’s website linked to a warranty registration page that wasn’t configured for US residents. It listed a generic email and a toll-free number that often played a message saying the service wasn’t available in the caller’s area. The US site for Waaree Solar Americas Inc., which runs the company’s new Texas-based facility, lacked a warranty registration form and phone number.

“We had over 50 customers with various problems and were unable to get any response. There was literally no response for months and months,” said Bret Biggart, CEO of Freedom Solar LLC, a Texas-based company with clients who have Waaree products and that partnered with SunPower.

Biggart said most providers, like inverter maker Enphase Energy Inc., publicly affirmed their warranty support—but Waaree has been an outlier.

“There’s a lot of Waaree in the market, so it has the potential to become a real problem,” he said.

Honoring Warranties

Waaree CEO Amit Paithankar told Bloomberg Law on April 4 that the company will honor any warranties offered to customers. He said he didn’t know why Waaree was left off SunPower’s list.

“That’s something that we probably need to discuss with SunPower folks, which is not the easiest at this point in time,” he said.

After months of customer inquiries—and one day before its Bloomberg Law interview—Waaree said a new warranty registration process was posted.

Paithankar said the procedure had been in development in the “last few weeks” but couldn’t confirm when it went live. Informing customers is “a constant process,” he said, adding that US retail customers are served through partners.

Biggart said his team was unaware of the new procedure and found it challenging to complete on behalf of a customer. Waaree had “added some extra hoops”—including a requirement for installers to document a site visit.

The steps go beyond what’s typically required by other manufacturers, his team said.

Three homeowners said they tried the form, but it was too complicated to complete on their own.

California resident Frank Deni received a response April 17 after months of sending emails and a letter to India. Although he only wanted to register his equipment, the company sought information such as a “VOC measurement image,” an “ISC measurement image with location in SLD,” and the “Google location of the plant.”

“There is no way I could possibly provide the information requested,” he said.

Customers Complaints

SunPower client Rupert Clayton, from California, said one of his panels started to malfunction in August 2024.

“It took me a while to dig through our documents and find a model number when I realized they were manufactured by Waaree rather than SunPower,” Clayton said. “I paid money for something Waaree produced, and I would like them to be accountable.”

As of mid-April, he hadn’t received a reply.

After exhausting other communication channels without a response, Chieh-Min Ooi, also from California, messaged Waaree’s CEO on LinkedIn last fall, urging him to explain the warranty claim filing process.

“The bankruptcy of SunPower does not help,” Paithankar replied to Ooi on LinkedIn. Ooi told Bloomberg Law that the CEO promised “to do the right thing,” but then went silent.

“If I have a problem in the future, and all your other customers through SunPower have a problem, what is the process like? I don’t know what the process is,” Ooi said.

The lack of guidance led him to file complaints with US agencies, including the FTC.

The FTC said in a statement that it “doesn’t comment on investigations, whether it has opened one, or whether it has contacted any parties.” The California Attorney General’s Office said it couldn’t share information on complaints, as “they are considered confidential law enforcement records.”

The Texas Attorney General’s Office, however, released customer complaints in response to a public records request.

An Austin resident who reported a malfunctioning panel since last year said Waaree hadn’t responded to his requests.

“They are now not honoring the warranty to replace my panel,” he wrote.

In another complaint, a League City, Texas, resident called the situation “deeply concerning,” saying he relied on the warranty when investing in solar energy. He said he was unable to reach Waaree.

Paithankar said he wasn’t aware of the complaints.

Growth Amid Heat

Amid pressure over unanswered customer claims and uncertainty in the solar industry—exacerbated by tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump—Waaree announced plans to expand its module manufacturing capacity in Texas, according to an April 9 release.

Paithankar said he doesn’t expect another major installer bankruptcy to disrupt the business, noting that Waaree’s “key clients are large utility companies.”

Over 50% of purchase agreements come from the US—a sign that “customers like the service,” he said.

“At this point in time, we are not afflicted with any other bankruptcy,” he added.