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Solar Owner Help In Minnesota

Minnesota requires residential solar companies to hold a contractor license that ties into a state recovery fund. Purelight Power, which shut down in December 2025, listed Minnesota among its states, so former customers can also see Help For Purelight Power And Solgen Customers.

Who Licenses Solar Companies

The Department of Labor and Industry solar installer licensing page says a law effective July 1, 2023 requires companies that contract with homeowners to install solar on homes in Minnesota to be licensed as a residential building contractor or remodeler. It says the purpose is to let homeowners make claims to the Contractor Recovery Fund if a solar company goes out of business, goes bankrupt, or cannot finish a project. It also says the installation itself must be performed by a Minnesota licensed electrical contractor.

How To Check A License

Use the DLI license lookup. The Contractor Recovery Fund page says residential building contractor licenses start with "BC" and residential remodeler licenses with "CR."

Where To File A Complaint

The DLI complaint page says the department investigates complaints about construction work, and that proven violations can lead to enforcement actions including fines and license revocation. Complaints are filed online through its iMS system, with separate paper forms for residential contractor and electrical complaints. It lists 651-284-5069.

The Contractor Recovery Fund

As we read them in October 2026, the fund page and the Contractor Recovery Fund fact sheet (which shows no date) set these conditions, so confirm current limits and deadlines with the department before you apply:

• You are a Minnesota homeowner, residential lessee, or homeowners association, and the loss was on owner occupied residential property.
• The contractor held an active residential building contractor or remodeler license when you signed and when the work was done.
• You had an actual, direct, out of pocket loss from fraud, deception, conversion of funds, or failure of performance.
• You got a final, docketed court judgment, and you apply within two years of the date it was entered.

Per the state's fact sheet, eligible applicants may receive up to $100,000, and the fund may pay up to $550,000 in total (lifetime) for all approved claims involving the same contractor. The fact sheet also says that files are reviewed twice a year, with deadlines of January 1 and July 1. The fund page says it does not pay attorney fees or interest, and cannot pay more than your judgment.

Net Metering Status

Minnesota Statutes 2025, section 216B.164 says a customer of a public utility with a system under 40 kilowatts may elect to be paid for net input at the average retail utility energy rate. For cooperative and municipal utilities, it allows an added fee to recover fixed costs, and says customers under 40 kilowatts may take kilowatt hour credits that carry forward but cancel at the end of the calendar year with no further compensation. Ask your utility which option your account uses before a repair or added panels.

Steps For Any Orphaned System

1. Gather your contract, permit, equipment list, warranty papers, and any loan or lease documents.
2. Call each equipment maker with your serial numbers. EnergySage guide to installer bankruptcy (updated January 7, 2026) says manufacturer warranties remain valid regardless of installer status, and that the manufacturer can often point you to installers certified on its equipment. It also quotes a service coordinator warning that if an installer is not certified on your equipment, those warranties could be determined to be void, so ask the manufacturer before you hire.
3. If you lease or have a power purchase agreement, contact the company that owns the system before hiring anyone. See Solar Lease Or PPA When The Company Is Gone.
4. Check any new company's license with the agency above before you sign, and get the scope and price in writing.

Agency rules, rates, and contact details change. Treat the dates on the sources here as a snapshot and confirm on the agency's own site.

If you want a local service company to look at your system, describe it in the system check form. We name the one company before anyone contacts you.

Related: Installer Went Out Of Business, Solar Warranty Help, Solar System Not Producing.