Stranded by SolarZero? Your Options Now

If you are one of the roughly 15,000 New Zealand households with a SolarZero system on the roof, here is the calm, honest summary: your panels still work, the lights stay on, and you are not about to be cut off. SolarZero went into liquidation in late 2024 (liquidators BDO were appointed, per the public liquidator notices), but the assets and customer agreements were picked up, and servicing has continued. Your real decision now is one of four paths: keep paying your monthly fee, dispute charges you think are wrong, buy the system out, or replace it. Which one is right depends almost entirely on your contract type and how many years you are into it. Below is the full map, with the numbers, the traps, and the order to do things in.

First, take a breath: what actually happened

SolarZero was one of the largest solar-as-a-service companies in Aotearoa. Instead of buying panels outright, most customers signed a long-term service agreement (often 20 or 25 years) and paid a fixed or escalating monthly fee. The company owned the gear; you paid for the energy and the service.

In November 2024 the company stopped trading and went into liquidation. That news landed hard for thousands of households who suddenly wondered: who owns my panels now, who fixes them if they fail, and am I still legally on the hook for that monthly payment?

The short version: a liquidation does not make your panels vanish, and it does not automatically tear up your contract. Contracts and assets are commercial property; in a liquidation they get assessed, and often sold or transferred to another party who steps into the shoes of the original company. That is broadly what has happened here, with servicing arrangements continuing under new management.

So the panic narrative ("you've been abandoned, your system is worthless") is wrong. But the complacent narrative ("nothing's changed, keep paying and don't think about it") is also wrong. The smart move is to understand exactly which agreement you signed and then choose your path deliberately. We keep a running, plain-English breakdown of the situation updated as things develop over at our main SolarZero support resource.

Why this matters more in NZ than people realise

New Zealand homes are different from the glossy overseas solar ads. We have older, often under-insulated housing stock, big winter heating loads (especially once a heat pump goes in), and a power market where what you earn for exporting solar to the grid varies wildly by retailer.

That last point is the quiet one. A solar system's value to you is split between the power you use yourself (worth your full retail rate) and the power you export (worth your buy-back rate, which can be anywhere from around 7c to north of 17c per kWh depending on retailer and plan, per published retailer rate cards). A SolarZero arrangement bundled all of that complexity into one monthly fee, which is exactly why working out whether that fee is still fair to you now takes a bit of care.

If you want to sanity-check what your export is actually worth on different plans, our buy-back rate comparison tool lets you see the live picture by retailer rather than guessing.

Step one: identify which agreement you signed

Everything flows from this. Dig out your original paperwork (or the welcome email) and find out which of these you have:

• An energy service / subscription agreement. You pay a monthly fee for the solar service. SolarZero owned the hardware. This is the most common arrangement.
• A finance or lease-to-own arrangement. You are paying off the system and will (or already do) own it at the end of a term.
• An outright purchase. Less common with SolarZero, but some customers bought the system and paid separately for monitoring or servicing.

If you cannot find the document, ask the current servicing entity in writing for a full copy of your signed agreement and your payment history. You are entitled to your own contract. Get it in writing, not over the phone, so you have a record.

Once you know your agreement type, the four paths below come into focus.

Path one: keep paying (and keep watching)

For plenty of households, doing nothing dramatic is genuinely the right call, at least for now. If your system is performing, your monthly fee is reasonable relative to the power you are generating, and servicing is being honoured, there is no need to panic-buy your way out.

What "keep paying" should look like done properly:

• Confirm who you are now paying and that the direct debit details are legitimate. Scammers love a confused customer base. Verify any change of bank details independently.
• Check your system is actually generating. Log into your monitoring, or check your power bills for export. A system that has quietly faulted is the worst-case "keep paying" scenario.
• Know who fixes it if it breaks. This is the single biggest open question for most people, and we have unpacked exactly where warranty and servicing responsibility now sits in our breakdown of SolarZero warranty and servicing obligations.

Keeping the status quo is a legitimate choice. Just make it an informed one, not a default born of feeling stuck.

Path two: dispute charges you believe are wrong

This is where many households are quietly losing money and do not realise they have rights. If your monthly charges have changed, if you are being billed for a system that is not generating, or if the service you were promised is not being delivered, the Fair Trading Act 1986 and the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 still apply. A company changing hands does not switch those protections off.

Common grounds for a legitimate dispute:

• You are being charged the full monthly fee while the system is faulted and not generating.
• The terms have been varied in a way your contract does not actually permit.
• Promised servicing or performance guarantees are not being met.
• You are being pressured into a new arrangement on the basis of misleading claims.

The Commerce Commission enforces the Fair Trading Act, and Consumer NZ is a strong, free source of guidance on your rights. Before you escalate anything, put your complaint in writing and keep every reply. We have laid out the specific clauses and the step-by-step process for pushing back in our piece on SolarZero billing disputes and your rights under the Fair Trading Act.

One unique trap worth flagging here: do not stop paying unilaterally as a form of protest while still under contract. Withholding payment without a proper dispute process can put you in breach and weaken your position. Lodge the dispute properly first; that protects you, it does not expose you.

Path three: buy the system out

For a lot of households, buying out the system and owning your panels free and clear is the path that ends the uncertainty for good. No more monthly fee, no more wondering who you are paying, and every kilowatt-hour you generate is yours.

The question is always the same: is the buy-out figure fair? A reasonable buy-out price reflects the age and condition of the system and what comparable hardware is worth today, not what the system cost new years ago.

Here is the maths that should anchor your thinking. A brand-new, fully installed 5kW system in 2025 runs roughly $9,000 to $13,000 (around $1.80 to $2.60 per watt), based on current NZ installer pricing and consistent with the cost ranges EECA references for residential solar. A system that is, say, six or seven years old has used a meaningful chunk of its useful life (panels are typically warranted around 25 years, inverters more like 10 to 12). So a fair buy-out on an older system should be a fraction of new-install pricing, not close to it.

If the buy-out number you are quoted is anywhere near the cost of a brand-new system, that is a red flag, and you would often be better off declining and installing fresh gear with full new warranties. We walk through how to assess a fair figure, and how to negotiate, in our detailed look at how to buy out your SolarZero system.

To pressure-test whether owning the system outright actually pencils out for your household, run your own numbers through our solar cost and payback calculator. Plug in the buy-out price as your "system cost" and see how the payback looks against your real power usage.

Funding a buy-out

If the buy-out figure is fair but you do not have the cash sitting around, low-interest green lending is worth a look. Some banks and lenders offer reduced rates for energy-efficiency and solar spending. To see whether you would qualify before you go anywhere near an application, our green finance qualifier gives you a quick read.

Path four: replace the system

Sometimes the honest answer is that the old arrangement is not worth saving. If the system is ageing, the inverter is near the end of its life, the buy-out price is unreasonable, or you simply want a clean slate with a modern system, full warranties, and (if you want it) a battery, replacing makes sense.

Before you go down this road, two things must be true:

• You can lawfully exit your current agreement. Check the termination terms. If you are mid-contract on a service agreement, understand any exit obligations before you commit to new gear.
• The old hardware comes off cleanly. Removing existing panels and dealing with the old owner's equipment needs to be handled properly so you are not left with roof penetrations or disputes over whose gear is whose.

The upside of replacing is real. A new, well-specified system installed in 2025 gives you full manufacturer warranties, modern efficiency, the option to add storage, and total clarity about who owns it: you. If you go this way, get multiple quotes and compare them line by line. We will line you up with three quotes from installers we have vetted ourselves through our free quotes service, so you are comparing like with like rather than getting one number and hoping.

The insight nobody else is giving you: your contract type changes everything

Here is the thing the panic headlines miss. Two neighbours can both have "a SolarZero system" and be in completely different legal positions.

If you signed a service / subscription agreement, you never owned the panels. Your leverage is around whether the service is being delivered and whether the fee is fair. Your exit is about ending a service, and possibly buying the asset.

If you signed a finance or lease-to-own, you may be progressively buying the system, and the rules around that debt (including your protections under the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act) come into play. That is a different conversation entirely, with different rights.

This is why generic advice ("just stop paying" or "everyone should buy out") is dangerous. The right move for the subscription customer is often wrong for the finance customer, and vice versa. Read your own document first; let it tell you which conversation you are actually having.

The second quiet trap: the "performance guarantee" that nobody is enforcing

Many SolarZero arrangements included some form of generation or performance assurance. With the corporate structure changed, the practical question is whether anyone is still actively measuring your system's output against what you were promised. In a lot of cases, nobody is checking unless you do.

So check. Pull twelve months of generation data if you can. If your system is materially under-performing what you were sold, that is potential grounds for a dispute, a price adjustment, or a stronger negotiating position on a buy-out. Most households never look, which is exactly why looking is worth your time.

Honest limits: where none of these paths are a magic fix

Some straight talk, because you deserve it:

• Solar never zeroes a grid-connected winter bill. Whatever path you take, your panels generate least in June and July when your heating load is highest. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.
• If you are about to sell the house, a complex buy-out or replacement may not pay off before you move. Sometimes leaving the arrangement in place and disclosing it to the buyer is the cleaner option. Get legal advice on how the agreement transfers on sale.
• If your roof is heavily shaded or the system was poorly sited, replacing it with more of the same will not rescue weak generation. Fix the underlying problem or do not spend the money.
• A buy-out only makes sense at a fair price. Paying near-new money for years-old hardware is not a rescue, it is a bad deal with a bow on it.

There is no shame in deciding the best move is simply to keep paying a reasonable fee for a working system while the dust settles. Steady and informed beats dramatic and rushed.

Your action plan, in order

Do these in sequence. Do not skip ahead.

1. Find your contract. Identify whether it is a service agreement, a finance/lease arrangement, or an outright purchase. Everything depends on this.
2. Verify who you are paying. Confirm the current servicing entity and that any bank details are legitimate. Never act on an unsolicited "update your payment" message without independent verification.
3. Check your system is generating. Pull your monitoring data or recent power bills. Confirm the panels are actually working before you decide anything.
4. Compare your generation to what you were promised. Under-performance changes your position significantly.
5. Decide your direction. Keep paying, dispute, buy out, or replace, based on your contract type and the numbers, not on fear.
6. If disputing, put it in writing and follow the proper process. Do not stop payment unilaterally.
7. If buying out, get the figure in writing and test it against new-system pricing and your real payback. Negotiate.
8. If replacing, confirm you can exit lawfully, then get multiple line-by-line quotes before committing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will my solar panels stop working now that SolarZero is in liquidation?

No. Liquidation is a corporate event; it does not switch off hardware on your roof. Your panels and inverter keep generating exactly as before. The open questions are about who services them and who you pay, not about whether they function.

Do I still have to pay my monthly fee?

If you are under a service or finance agreement and that contract has been validly transferred, the obligation generally continues with the new party who stepped into the company's position. Do not simply stop paying as a protest, as that can put you in breach. If you believe the charges are wrong, dispute them properly in writing instead.

Who owns my panels?

It depends on your agreement. Under a service/subscription model, the company owned the gear (and a successor party now does). Under a lease-to-own or finance arrangement, you are working towards ownership. Under an outright purchase, you already own them. Your contract is the only document that answers this for certain.

What does a fair buy-out price look like?

A fair figure reflects the system's age and current condition, not its original cost. With a new 5kW system running roughly $9,000 to $13,000 fully installed in 2025 per current NZ installer pricing, a buy-out on a several-year-old system should be a clear fraction of that. If the number is close to new-install pricing, push back or consider replacing instead.

Can I dispute charges if my system isn't generating properly?

Yes. The Fair Trading Act 1986 and Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 still apply. Being charged a full service fee for a faulted or under-performing system is a legitimate basis for a dispute. Document the under-performance, put your complaint in writing, and escalate through the proper channels if needed.

Who fixes my system if it breaks now?

Responsibility sits with the current servicing entity under the transferred agreements, but the practical reality has been changing, so confirm it in writing for your specific situation rather than assuming. We have set out where warranty and servicing responsibility currently sits in detail to help you pin this down.

Should I just rip it out and replace it?

Only if the maths and your contract support it. Replacing makes sense when the buy-out price is unfair, the hardware is ageing, or you want a clean slate with full warranties and possibly a battery. First confirm you can exit your current agreement lawfully, then get several quotes before spending a dollar.

I'm about to sell my house. What happens to the agreement?

Service and finance agreements usually have terms covering sale and transfer to a new owner. Get legal advice on how your specific agreement passes on, and disclose it to your buyer. In some cases leaving the arrangement in place is cleaner than a rushed buy-out you will not recoup before moving.

Is my export (buy-back) money affected?

Your buy-back is a separate arrangement with your electricity retailer, not with SolarZero, so it continues independently. It is worth checking you are on a competitive buy-back rate, because they vary significantly between retailers from roughly 7c to over 17c per kWh on published rate cards.

How do I avoid scams during all this confusion?

Treat any unsolicited message asking you to "update payment details" or "confirm your account" with deep suspicion. Verify independently using contact details you already hold, never the ones in the message. Get everything important in writing, and never pay a new bank account on the strength of a single email or text.

The bottom line

You are not stranded. You have a working system on your roof and four genuine paths in front of you: keep paying a fair fee for a working system, dispute charges that are not right, buy the system out at a sensible price, or replace it with a clean-slate setup that is unambiguously yours.

The single most important thing you can do today is find your original agreement and work out which type it is, because that one fact decides which path makes sense for you. From there, check your system is actually generating, verify who you are paying, and choose deliberately rather than in a panic.

If you want the full, regularly updated picture of where things stand, start with our main SolarZero support resource. And if you decide a fresh start is the right move, run your numbers through our payback calculator first so you go in with your eyes open. Steady, informed decisions win here. You have got this.

Where to go from here

Once you have found your contract and confirmed your system is generating, pick your path and work it methodically. If you are leaning towards staying put, pin down who services the gear in writing through our breakdown of warranty and servicing obligations. If something about your charges feels off, our guide to billing disputes and your rights walks you through pushing back the right way.

If you are weighing a buy-out, read how to buy out your system and test the figure in our payback calculator before you agree to anything. And if a fresh start is the answer, grab three vetted quotes so you can compare like with like. Whatever you choose, choose it from a position of knowing, not guessing. That is the whole game here.