Your installer is gone. Can you file the panel warranty claim yourself?

Every claim below is sourced. Last checked against primary records: 2026-08-17

For Freedom Forever customers. As of: August 9, 2026.

Short answer: for most of the equipment Freedom Forever installed, yes. You file directly with the manufacturer, and you do not need an installer to start the claim. For one brand it depends on what year your system went in, and for another it depends on which model is on your roof. This page tells you which question applies to you.

This is not legal advice. Every statement below is quoted from a manufacturer's own published warranty document, with the version and date shown, so you can check it against your own paperwork. It does not interpret your individual contract. Where a question is genuinely unresolved, this page says so rather than guessing.

Read this first: there is no single answer, and that is the whole point

Most pages about solar warranties give you one rule. That is wrong, and it is wrong in a way that costs you money.

Manufacturers revise their warranty documents, and Freedom Forever installed systems for roughly seven years (2019-2026). The document on a manufacturer's website today is often not the document that governs a system installed in 2019. We checked this properly, pulling the historical dated versions in force across Freedom Forever's whole install span, and for one brand the rule reverses partway through.

So the question you need to answer is different depending on the brand:

Find your brand below. It is printed on the panels themselves and on your system paperwork.

⚠️ One thing that is true for every brand: the warranty covers the PART, not the LABOR

Every manufacturer warranty here covers replacing or repairing defective hardware. None of them pays for someone to get on your roof, diagnose the fault, remove the panel, and install the replacement. That labor was Freedom Forever's job under its workmanship warranty, and Freedom Forever is in liquidation.

This is the honest reason most people still need a solar service company even when they can file the claim themselves. Not because the manufacturer demands it, but because the physical work is not covered and not something most homeowners can do safely.

Silfab: 🔴 the rule REVERSES depending on your install year

This is the one brand where the year matters, and getting it wrong costs you.

Source (VERIFIED, primary): Silfab limited warranty instruments dated 2019-09-11 (owner-direct language) and 2020-06-15 (installer-RMA language), with the same installer-RMA language confirmed in Revision I (2021-09-14) and Revision Q (2025-08-12). Retrieved from the Internet Archive's dated revision chain.

The switch happened between September 2019 and June 2020. Freedom Forever operated across that boundary, so both rules apply to real Freedom Forever customers.

Why we are telling you this rather than just saying "you need an installer": if you have a 2019-era Silfab system and someone tells you that you need the original installer to file, that is not what your warranty says, and your original installer no longer exists. That advice would send you looking for a company that is being liquidated.

What we will not do is tell you which document legally governs your system. Whether the version delivered at sale or the current version controls is a question about your contract. State both, check your own paperwork, and ask Silfab directly, or an attorney if there is money at stake.

Separately, and worth 13 years: Silfab's product term is 12 years or 25 years depending on whether "the original system installer was properly registered and qualified as a Silfab installer." This language is identical in the 2021 and current instruments, so it applies across the whole span. Whether Freedom Forever held that registration is not something we have been able to determine. It is a direct question to put to Silfab.

Qcells (Hanwha Q CELLS): ask "what model?", not "what year?"

Qcells is structured differently from every other brand here. It does not revise one warranty document over time. It publishes a separate warranty per module series.

Observed instruments include Q.PLUS_DUO-G5_2019-01 · Q.PEAK_DUO-G5_G6_2021-02 · Q.PEAK_DUO-G6_2021-10 · Q.PEAK_DUO_BLK-G6_AC_2020-07 · Q.PEAK-G4.4-G4.5_2020-02 · Q.PEAK_DUO_BLK-G10_AC_2022-03.

So "what year was it installed?" does not find your document. You need the model number, which is on the label on the back of the panel and usually on your system paperwork.

What we verified: the 2021-02 (Rev02) instrument for the Q.PEAK DUO G5-G8 series carries beneficiary language identical to the current one. The beneficiary is defined as an end customer who purchases the modules from Hanwha or an authorized distributor and is the initial installer of those modules, plus that party's permitted successors or assigns.

Source (VERIFIED, primary): Qcells Warranty_terms_modules_Q.PEAK_DUO-G5_G6_2021-02_Rev02 compared against the current HQCUSA instrument.

⛔ Honest gap, stated rather than papered over: we could not retrieve the 2019-01 Q.PLUS DUO-G5 instrument that would cover the earliest Freedom Forever installs. The live URL returns a "success" response that is actually an error page, and the archive does not hold it. So for Qcells we can only speak to systems from 2021 onward. If your Qcells panels went in during 2019 or 2020, we do not yet know what your document says, and we are not going to guess. Request it from Qcells directly, citing your module series.

JA Solar: you file it yourself, and their document settles the "which version?" question

Verified at three points across Freedom Forever's span (April 2019, version A/4 of July 2020, and version A13 of February 2026), and the operative terms are the same throughout. This is a brand where you can rely on one answer.

• Who files: you do. The Customer notifies JA Solar's customer service department in writing. No installer in the path.
• Your clock: notice must be given within 14 calendar days of becoming aware of the problem. This is the shortest clock of any brand on this page, so do not sit on it.
• What you must supply: cause of the claim with supporting documents, proof of purchase (and if you did not buy directly from JA Solar, proof of purchase from your supplier traceable to the supply contract), product type and serial number, warranty start date, and place of installation.
• Who is covered: "the initial end customer who purchases Modules directly or indirectly from JA Solar or from any one of its authorized manufacturers or distributors … and is the initial owner of such Modules." Buying a system from an installer is buying indirectly, so you qualify.

⭐ JA Solar answers the question every other brand leaves open. Section 2.1 of its warranty states:

"applies to Modules first sold after the Effective Date … Modules sold before the Effective Date is still subject to the Limited Warranty applicable at the time of sale."

In plain terms: the version of JA Solar's warranty that was in force when your system was sold is the version that governs it. That is JA Solar's own published rule, not our interpretation.

Source (VERIFIED, primary): JA Solar Limited Warranty for Crystalline Solar PV Modules effective 2019-04-01; version A/4 effective 2020-07-07; Module Product Limited Warranty A13 effective 2026-02-04.

❓ The non-payment question. Ask it; do not assume the answer. JA Solar's warranty lets it reject a claim where it has not been paid for the modules "(whether or not the Customer is the debtor)." Freedom Forever's bankruptcy schedules list $10,508,399.20 owed to JA Solar.

But JA Solar publishes a way through, and it is written into the same clause: the Customer "may pay the outstanding payment to JA Solar to get the claim accepted. If Customer was not the debtor, then after the Customer pays the outstanding payment, it can assert a claim against the actual debtor … JA Solar can assist the Customer by issuing a debt transfer certificate."

We are not telling you your warranty is void. We are telling you this clause exists, that it was already there in 2019, and that it is a question to put to JA Solar in writing.

Trina: you file it yourself, and Trina owes you a disclosure

Verified at three points: Rev. V (April 15, 2019), Rev. X (July 25, 2019) and Rev. Z (March 2025). The operative terms are unchanged across Freedom Forever's entire span.

• Who is covered: "the first customer installing (for its own use)" , which is you, the homeowner.
• Who files: you do, through Trina's customer service portal, or by letter or fax. No installer required.
• Your clock: "Any claim for breach of this Limited Warranty must be brought within two (2) months after discovery of the breach."
• If you sold or bought the house: "This Limited Warranty is transferrable when the Products remain installed in their original installation location." No fee and no payment condition, one of the simplest transfer terms on this page.

⭐ The clause worth knowing about, and no other page discusses it. Trina can reject a claim where it has not been paid, but the same clause imposes a duty on Trina and gives you a route through:

"Trina Solar must inform the Buyer about the non-payment and provide the name and the full address of the Direct Customer which has failed to pay the modules. In case that Trina Solar can reject the claim under this warranty based on this provision, the Buyer can deposit the amount not paid in order to trigger the warranty claims."

Two things follow. First, Trina is obliged to tell you if this is why your claim is being refused, and to name who owes the money. Second, there is a priced way forward rather than a dead end.

Source (VERIFIED, primary): Trina PS-M-0020 Rev. V (2019-04-15), Rev. X (2019-07-25), and PS-M-0135 Rev. Z (March 2025).

Freedom Forever's schedules list $5,086,048.00 owed to Trina. Again: this is a question to ask, not a conclusion about your coverage.

Enphase microinverters: you file it yourself, but check the registration

Verified at 2019-09-01 and at the current instrument (USPRCA-Micro-2025, LGL-00030 v.4.0). The terms are stable across the span.

• Who files: you do. "To obtain Warranty service for a Covered Product, you must comply with the Return Merchandise Authorization procedure." No installer required.
• Coverage: 25 years on IQ6/IQ7-series microinverters; 5 years on gateways, combiners and communication devices.

🔴 The condition most Freedom Forever customers have never heard of. Both the 2019 and current instruments say coverage is:

"conditioned on the Covered Owner registering the Covered Product within forty-five (45) days from the date of first installation"

In practice your installer did this, usually automatically when a gateway was commissioned. Freedom Forever is gone, so you cannot go back and satisfy a window that closed years ago.

Before you assume this is a problem, two things very often make it moot:

1. If you live in California or Connecticut, this condition does not apply to you. Both instruments state, in capitals: "IF THE COVERED OWNER IS A RESIDENT OF CALIFORNIA, CONNECTICUT, OR ANY OTHER STATE THAT FORBIDS THE RETURN OF A REGISTRATION CARD AS A CONDITION PRECEDENT TO WARRANTY COVERAGE, THEN THE REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS [do not apply]." Other states have similar consumer-protection statutes, so it is worth asking about.
2. Most systems with an Enphase gateway were registered at activation, without anyone doing anything special. Check before you worry: log in at enphaseenergy.com or ask Enphase support whether your serial numbers are registered.

If you bought the house with the panels already on it: Enphase requires a Change of Ownership Form and payment of a Transfer Fee within 30 days of the transfer for coverage to continue. This is a real cost and a real deadline, and it is easy to miss.

Source (VERIFIED, primary): Enphase Energy Limited Warranty – United States, US Territories and Canada, effective September 1, 2019; and Doc # USPRCA-Micro-2025, LGL-00030 v.4.0.

SolarEdge inverters and optimizers: you file it yourself, and it transfers freely

Verified at April 2019 and April 2022. Terms unchanged between them.

• Who files: you do. Email support@solaredge.com with a short description of the defect, the product's serial number, and a scanned copy of the purchase receipt or warranty certificate. No installer required. (The serial number must be legible and still attached to the unit.)
• Coverage: 25 years on power optimizers, 12 years on inverters, 5 years on gateways and communication products, running from the earlier of installation or four months after shipment.
• If you sold or bought the house: "The Limited Warranty may be transferred from the buyer to any assignee". No fee, no form, no payment condition. The most permissive transfer terms of any brand on this page.

❓ The wrinkle specific to SolarEdge, framed honestly as a question. The warranty runs to "the buyer who purchased the Products from an authorized seller of SolarEdge." In a residential installation, the party that bought the hardware from the authorized seller was usually your installer, not you. The free assignment clause is what carries the coverage to you.

So the practical question for SolarEdge owners is: can you show the warranty was assigned to you? In most cases your purchase contract and system documentation do this. It is worth locating that paperwork before you need it.

And the exclusion to be aware of: the warranty "will not apply if … the buyer is in default under the General Terms and Conditions of sale or any other Agreement governing the purchase of the Product." Freedom Forever owed SolarEdge a substantial sum. As with the other brands: a question to put to SolarEdge, not a conclusion that your coverage is gone.

Source (VERIFIED, primary): SolarEdge Limited Product Warranty, April 2019 and April 2022 instruments.

Jinko: the strictest terms on this page, and you should know that going in

Verified at 2019-07-01 (the start of Freedom Forever's span) and at the current instrument. Unchanged in substance.

"this Limited Warranty is for the sole and exclusive benefit of Customer and there are no third party beneficiaries hereof; provided, however, subject to written notice to Jinko and Jinko's receipt of full and final payment for the Modules, this entire Limited Warranty may be assigned in whole but not in part."

Two things to take from that. The assignment route is expressly conditioned on Jinko having been paid in full for the modules, and Freedom Forever's schedules list $1,540,087.63 owed to Jinko. And unlike Trina and JA Solar, Jinko does not publish a cure path in the warranty document.

This was already the language in 2019, so it is not a recent tightening aimed at bankrupt installers.

We are not telling you your Jinko warranty is void. We do not know that, and neither does anyone else writing about this. We are telling you the clause exists, that the condition it names is potentially unmet, and that it is a specific written question to put to Jinko before you spend money on a repair.

Source (VERIFIED, primary): Jinko Limited Warranty Rev070119 (2019-07-01) compared against the current REV.EN linear warranty.

What this page does not cover yet

Being explicit about the edges, because a page that hides its gaps is not trustworthy.

• Qcells systems installed in 2019-2020. The governing instrument is not retrievable. See the Qcells section.
• Tesla equipment. Appears in Freedom Forever's filings in a structurally different position (as a secured creditor). Not yet analyzed here.
• Unirac racking. Freedom Forever's schedules show $4,215,517.20 owed to Unirac, which makes it a major supplier. Racking warranties work differently from panel and electronics warranties and are not covered on this page.
• Which document legally governs your system, in general. JA Solar answers this for its own product. For the others it is a contract question, and we will not invent an answer.
• Maxeon and Panasonic. Deliberately excluded. Neither appears anywhere in the Freedom Forever operating or procurement debtors' schedules, so we have no basis to think they supplied your system. (They are relevant to SunPower customers, which is a different situation and a different page.)

One scope note on the brand list itself: it is drawn from the schedules of the Freedom Forever operating and procurement debtors. We did not review the Pennsylvania debtor's schedules, so the honest form of any absence above is "absent from the debtors that would hold it," not "absent from the estate."

How this page was built

Every brand statement above comes from reading the manufacturer's own warranty document, and specifically the version that was in force during Freedom Forever's install years rather than whatever is on the website today. Where a rule changed mid-span, both versions are shown with their dates. Where a document could not be retrieved, the page says so instead of substituting the current one.

The equipment list is taken from the bankruptcy schedules themselves: Docket 263 (Freedom Forever LLC) and Docket 267 (Freedom Forever Procurement LLC), filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, which identify roughly $32.3 million in trade payables to equipment suppliers.

Last checked: August 9, 2026. Warranty documents get revised. If you are reading this much later, the current versions may have moved on. The dated quotes above are what was verified on that date.