What does solar panel repair cost?
Typical solar repairs cost about $238 to $1,487, with an average of $861, according to HomeAdvisor’s national cost guide (updated June 19, 2026). Published diagnostic-visit fees run $135 to $500. One microinverter ranges from about $150 for the part to about $1,250 replaced on the roof out of warranty, and a replacement string inverter from about $800 to $3,000. Taking the whole array off and putting it back for roof work is a separate job, quoted at $3,000 to $10,000.
Before you request any quote, call the installer of record (or, for a lease or PPA, the company that owns the system) with the error code and your warranty papers. Many failed parts are still under a manufacturer warranty, and the question that decides your bill is usually who covers the labor.
Who to call first, and who pays
“Under warranty” does not always mean “no charge.” A solar system usually carries several separate promises: the panel maker’s product and performance warranties, the inverter maker’s warranty, and the installer’s workmanship warranty on labor and roof penetrations. Some homes also have a labor plan or a service contract. Start with the one that matches your ownership.
You paid cash or have a solar loan
You own the equipment. Call the original installer first and ask whether its workmanship warranty covers the fault and the labor. Then check the manufacturer warranty for the named part. The FTC notes that owners generally handle maintenance unless the seller included it.
You lease or have a PPA
The leasing or PPA company owns the system, and the contract says who repairs it and who pays. Call that company before letting anyone else touch the array; outside work can conflict with the contract.
The original installer closed
A separate manufacturer warranty can still apply. Contact the manufacturer with the model, serial number, install date and fault details, and ask for an authorized service provider. The installer’s own workmanship warranty has no company left to honor it.
A storm, fire or falling object caused it
Photograph the damage from the ground and contact the system owner and your insurer before work begins. A manufacturer warranty covers defects, not storm damage. See solar damage and home insurance for how policies treat panels.
Read the remedy, not just the years
Warranty documents show why the part can be free while the visit is not:
- SolarEdge (limited warranty, revised August 2025): inverters 12 years and power optimizers 25 years (shorter in some countries and product families). SolarEdge repairs or replaces the product and pays shipping, but on-site labor, travel, removal and reinstallation are not covered unless SolarEdge agrees in writing in advance.
- Qcells (Q.PEAK DUO G9–G11 module warranty, 2022): when Qcells sends a replacement module for a system under 25 kW, it reimburses removal and installation labor up to $250 per system, with receipts.
Your exact model, activation date, registration and installer agreement decide what applies, so ask the installer to file the claim and put the remaining charges in writing.
Solar repair prices by job
These are published price observations, not quotes. HomeAdvisor surveys customers after completed projects and combines that with other research, but does not publish its sample size or regional mix for this page. The provider figures come from single companies and reflect their own markets. The rows describe different jobs, so do not add them together.
| Job | HomeAdvisor, national (updated June 19, 2026) | Provider pages (date, location) | Ask the quote to confirm |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diagnostic or inspection visit | $150 to $300 inspection | $135 to $225 (Bob’s Repair, Las Vegas, March 2026); $200 to $500 (Sunny Energy RX, Phoenix/Tucson, October 2026) | Whether the fee is credited to the repair and includes a written fault report |
| Loose connection or wiring | About $100 for a simple fix, up to $400 for extensive damage | Not separately priced | The exact connection or cable, roof access, and testing after repair |
| One replacement panel | $200 to $550 for the panel, plus about $100 per hour labor | Not separately priced | Electrical and size match, racking, shipping and disposal |
| One microinverter | $150 to $350 (appears to be the unit) | $700 to $1,250 installed, out of warranty (Sunny Energy RX, October 2026) | Part vs installed price, roof labor, monitoring setup, warranty claim |
| String inverter replacement | $800 to $2,500 | $1,000 to $2,000 plus labor (Bob’s Repair, March 2026); $1,500 to $3,000 installed (Sunny Energy RX, October 2026) | Model and size, rapid-shutdown compatibility, commissioning, monitoring |
| Remove and reinstall the whole array | Not covered on this page | $3,000 to $10,000 for homeowners (Paradise Energy, Paradise, Pennsylvania installer, November 2025) | Panel count, storage, racking parts, permits, recommissioning and roof warranty |
| Labor rate | About $100 per hour | From $125 per hour, $150+ for engineering work (Paradise Energy, November 2025) | Trip charge, minimum hours, crew size for steep roofs |
Why the inverter numbers differ: the national figures mix part-only and installed prices, while the provider figures are installed jobs in two Southwest markets. Compare your quote with the column that matches what it includes. For the whole-array removal job, see the solar panel removal and reinstallation guide.
What usually fails, and safe checks before a service call
Stop and keep away if you see smoke, flame, arcing, exposed wires, a loose panel or storm damage, or smell burning plastic. Call 911 for an active fire; otherwise call the system owner or installer. Do not climb onto the roof, open an inverter or junction box, or follow a generic breaker-reset routine from the internet. The Department of Energy treats solar as an electrical system covered by fire and electrical codes; shutdown steps differ by equipment.
The panels themselves are rarely the problem. In NREL’s analysis of about 100,000 U.S. systems with at least five years of data, inverter issues occurred at 4% to 6%, compared with 0.02% to 0.2% for modules, and breakers, fuses and wiring were also common trouble spots. Residential inverter problems took almost 40 days on average to fix, far longer than at large solar plants, which the researchers tied to weaker monitoring and slower service on home systems (pv magazine USA report on the NREL study, March 2020). Watching your monitoring app is the cheapest repair tool you have.
You can collect useful evidence without opening equipment or going on the roof:
- Check for a utility outage. Grid-tied solar is designed to switch off when grid power is lost (DOE). That shutdown is not a fault. Systems with batteries set up for backup behave differently.
- Save the exact alert. Screenshot the app and photograph the inverter display or status light from a safe spot. Note the date and time.
- Separate missing data from missing power. If the app is offline, compare the inverter display and your utility account. A Wi-Fi or gateway fault can hide production without stopping it.
- Look at the shape of the drop. A sudden step down on a specific day points to hardware. A slow decline that tracks the seasons or new tree growth points to soiling or shade. Compare with the same month last year. For dirt, see the solar panel cleaning cost guide.
- Look from the ground. Note debris, a shifted panel, roof damage or animal activity.
- Gather the records. Contract or lease, installer and equipment warranties, model and serial numbers, monitoring login, permit record and past service reports.
Repair the part or replace more of the system?
There is no reliable rule such as “replace at year 10” or “replace when repair reaches 50%.” Decide from the diagnosed fault and written prices.
A targeted repair usually makes sense when
- one component has failed and the rest tests normally;
- a compatible part is available;
- a warranty reduces the bill; and
- the roof does not need replacing soon.
Price a broader replacement when
- several components are failing or parts are discontinued;
- the roof needs replacement within a few years, so the array must come off anyway;
- repeated faults have produced several service bills; or
- an old string inverter is out of warranty and a new one would need rewiring or a different setup.
When the choice is close, ask for two written scopes: one that returns the existing system to service, and one that replaces the affected part of the system. Compare price, covered labor, new warranty, downtime, permits and monitoring. If you also consider a complete new array, price it separately with current solar installation costs.
Solar repair call and quote checklist
Give the service company
- system owner and original installer;
- brand, model, serial number and activation date;
- exact error code and monitoring screenshots;
- date the output changed and any storm or roof event;
- contract, warranty and prior service records; and
- roof and access details.
Get in the written quote
- diagnostic fee and whether it is credited;
- the failed component and the test that found it;
- warranty status and who files the claim;
- parts, shipping, labor, travel and roof access;
- permits, inspection, utility work and recommissioning; and
- the workmanship warranty on the repair.
For a repair over a few hundred dollars, get a second written scope after the fault is diagnosed. Check the contractor’s state license and complaint history before you sign, as the FTC recommends.
Solar panel repair questions
Why is my solar system producing nothing?
A grid outage, a safety shutdown, an inverter fault or a monitoring failure can all show as zero. Check the utility outage map, save the inverter status and app alert, and call the installer or system owner. Do not open equipment or keep resetting breakers.
Can cracked solar-panel glass be repaired?
Small chips are sometimes sealed, but a patch may not restore weather sealing, electrical safety or warranty coverage, and cracked panels are usually replaced. Keep away from shattered glass and damaged wiring, and let the manufacturer and a qualified technician decide.
Does a manufacturer warranty cover repair labor?
Often only partly. SolarEdge’s warranty excludes on-site labor unless agreed in advance; Qcells’ module warranty reimburses up to $250 per system. Read the remedy and labor sections for your model, plus any installer workmanship warranty or labor plan.
Who repairs the system if the installer went out of business?
Ask the panel or inverter manufacturer how to start a claim and which service providers it authorizes. Any qualified, licensed solar service company can do out-of-warranty work.
Who arranges repairs on leased or PPA solar?
The company that owns the system, under your contract. Call it before authorizing another contractor, especially after storm or roof damage.
Does homeowners insurance cover solar panel damage?
It depends on your policy and the cause. Sudden damage such as hail or fire is an insurance question; a part that wears out or fails is a warranty question. See does home insurance cover solar panels.
Sources and scope
Prices: HomeAdvisor (updated June 19, 2026), Sunny Energy RX (updated October 8, 2026), Bob’s Repair Solar (updated March 9, 2026) and Paradise Energy (updated November 5, 2025), all checked October 14, 2026. EcoGen has not collected its own repair invoices, so these are published observations, not a measured price for your area.
Ownership and contract guidance: Federal Trade Commission. Safety and outages: Department of Energy pages on PV fire safety, solar and outages and PV operation and maintenance. Warranties: SolarEdge and Qcells documents linked above. Failure rates: NREL’s 100,000-system study as reported by pv magazine USA.
