Hillsborough County homeowners who signed leases with Freedom Forever for rooftop solar panels are stuck with systems that don't work, a company that won't answer the phone and lease payments coming due in weeks. Apollo Beach and Ruskin residents served by the installer's Sarasota branch could be among them.
The California-based company, once the second-largest residential solar installer in the country, converted its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization to a Chapter 7 liquidation on July 31, after a proposed sale to its CEO was rejected by creditors, according to Law360. Freedom Forever is now in the hands of a court-appointed trustee who will sell off whatever remains.
The company completed more than 150,000 installations across more than 30 states since 2011 and operated a Sarasota branch that served the broader Tampa Bay area, according to WFLA. Any South Shore homeowner who had panels installed through Freedom Forever is now in the same limbo as Tampa resident Nate Chiarenza.
A $20,000 bill and no power
Chiarenza had Freedom Forever panels installed in March. They passed local inspection after WFLA consumer investigator Shannon Behnken intervened on his behalf, but the system has never generated a single kilowatt-hour. Freedom Forever failed to complete the utility enrollment paperwork that Hillsborough County and TECO Energy require before a system can connect to the grid.
Nobody is left to finish it.
"Right now, there's just essentially a $20,000 bill hanging over my head," Chiarenza told Behnken on Thursday.
His lease payments to the financing company are set to begin in September. Freedom Forever stopped returning his calls after the bankruptcy converted to liquidation.
TECO says it will work with inspected systems
TECO Energy told WFLA it has decided to move forward with Chiarenza's system because it already passed local inspection. Normally the solar company enrolls the customer's system with the utility, but a TECO spokesperson said the utility can proceed directly in this case. TECO will conduct its own inspection, and if the system passes, it will be turned on.
Whether TECO will extend that approach to every Freedom Forever customer in its service territory is not confirmed. Based on the utility's response to Chiarenza's case, South Shore homeowners whose systems have already passed local inspection may be able to work directly with TECO.
What affected homeowners should do now
The bankruptcy court's deadline for responses to motions rejecting remaining Freedom Forever contracts and leases is Friday. Homeowners who have not yet acted should check the Kroll Restructuring Administration claims portal for updates on whether that deadline has been extended and for filing instructions.
Court papers advise customers to contact their financing providers directly and document system performance and all contracts, according to the Denver Gazette.
Claims can also be mailed to: Freedom Forever LLC Claims Processing Center, c/o Kroll Restructuring Administration LLC, Grand Central Station, P.O. Box 4850, New York, NY 10163-4850.
Freedom Forever's collapse is part of a bigger industry wave
Freedom Forever carried more than $500 million in debt and faces unsecured claims from between 50,000 and 100,000 creditors. Its largest single unsecured creditor, Mosaic Funding IX, claimed $60 million. Mosaic itself filed Chapter 11 in 2025.
More than 100 solar companies have closed or entered bankruptcy since 2023, driven by expiring federal tax credits, high interest rates and the failure of major financing partners. Industry analysts forecast a roughly 20% drop in new residential solar installations in 2026.
