Rivertown Solar Troubleshooting

Stuck With SunStrong? What Former SunPower Owners Need to Know

October 5, 2026

By Ria Rana, renewable energy marketing specialist at Rivertown Solar

If you own a SunPower system in Westchester or the Hudson Valley, there's a good chance you're paying for an app to see your own solar data, waiting on a maintenance request, or wondering who is actually responsible for your roof. You're not alone. This year, Rivertown Solar has fielded a steady stream of calls and emails from former SunPower customers whose systems are now managed by SunStrong Management.

SunPower filed for Chapter 11 in August 2024. Legacy lease and PPA customers were pointed to SunStrong for service, and in early 2025 SunStrong took over the old mySunPower monitoring app (EnergySage, Precis Solar). Here's what we've seen in the field, what's actually on your roof, and how to get your system working for you again.

Your SunPower system is (mostly) an Enphase system

Most SunPower homes we service have Enphase microinverters under the SunPower label. In 2018, Enphase bought SunPower's microinverter business and became the exclusive supplier of a custom line of IQ microinverters, including the IQ7XS, for SunPower AC modules (Enphase).

In other words, the hardware is Enphase, branded as SunPower. The difference is the monitoring layer:

Enphase even runs a separate warranty desk for these units. Its replacement instructions to one of our customers asked for the PVS6 SunPower gateway serial number and the Enphase microinverter serials, sent to a dedicated SunPower address at Enphase. Same hardware, extra hoops.

Paying to see your own system

SunStrong moved advanced monitoring features, including panel-level data, behind a paid premium tier in April 2025. Several sources put it at about $10 a month or $100 a year (Precis Solar, Solar Technologies). Free cellular connectivity ended July 8, 2025. Systems that can't move to Wi-Fi or Ethernet need a paid cellular plan, reported at $59.99 a year for solar only and $149.99 for solar plus battery.

That matters for repairs, not just curiosity. Panel-level data is how a technician finds the one failed microinverter on a roof of 30. Without it, a service call becomes guesswork. Several homeowners we've helped only got panel-level visibility after paying for premium. Lease and PPA customers may have different terms, so check your agreement.

The app itself has a 1.3-star rating from about 3,400 reviews on Google Play, with complaints about lagging data and missing history (Google Play).

Locked out: why independent installers can't easily help

SunStrong limits technical access to its own network of contractors. When one homeowner asked SunStrong to give us access to her system, SunStrong's reply was clear: "only our authorized Field Service Partners are granted access to sites within our commissioning application or ProFleet." The homeowner also found no way to add a "maintainer" in the app.

The result is a loop that's hard for homeowners to escape:

  1. A microinverter fails, and production drops.
  2. Enphase will honor the warranty, but wants the claim filed by a professional, not the homeowner.
  3. The installer of record (SunPower) is gone, and an independent installer can't see the system in SunStrong's tools or in Enphase's installer portal.
  4. The homeowner pays for a diagnostic, pays for premium monitoring, and still waits.

One customer told us she was losing an estimated $500 a month in Con Edison credits while a single warranty-covered part sat unreplaced. In our experience, the warranty process for these systems is slower and more awkward than for a standard Enphase install, and we've had to own some of that delay ourselves.

Service requests that stall

Homeowners come to us after trying the official channels. Some of what they've told us, with details changed to protect privacy:

Where

System

What happened

Hastings-on-Hudson

SunPower with Enphase micros

Output fell by half. SunStrong's phone line logged the issue for a callback within 48 hours. Panel data appeared only after she paid for premium.

Mid-Westchester

SunPower, about 5 kW

Peak output fell from 5.5 kW to 1.6 kW starting July 5. The SunPower monitoring was too limited to run a true diagnostic.

New Rochelle

41 SunPower AC modules

Monitoring went dark after the bankruptcy, and the system wouldn't reconnect to Wi-Fi or cellular. He asked to switch to Enphase.

Pelham Manor

SunPower with SunVault battery

His local servicer said it would not service the SunVault battery.

Dobbs Ferry

12 SunPower panels

The village couldn't close the building permit because the installer never supplied rail photos, and "went dark once PTO was granted."

To be fair, SunStrong is not unresponsive across the board. In one case it turned on panel-level monitoring within hours of a homeowner's call. The bigger problem is structural: a premium-only data model, a closed partner network, and three or four companies between a homeowner and a fix. As one customer put it, "We have been lost in the shuffle between SunPower, SunStrong" and others.

Leased system? Plan ahead for roof work and home sales

If SunStrong owns the panels on your roof, you can't just hire anyone to take them down. Before a re-roof, a sale or a move, expect these questions:

Read your lease or PPA carefully and ask SunStrong for every answer in writing. We're installers, not lawyers, so talk to an attorney about contract questions. Sustainable Westchester has also been a useful resource for homeowners sorting out lease options.

The way out: switch to native Enphase monitoring

If you own your system outright, you can usually drop the SunStrong layer. Your microinverters are already Enphase, so we replace the SunPower gateway with Enphase's own monitoring hardware and register the system to you and to us in Enphase's platform.

SunStrong Connect

Native Enphase

Monitoring fee

About $100/yr for premium features

No subscription for standard monitoring

Panel-level data

Premium tier only

Included

Installer access

SunStrong partners only

Your installer of choice

Warranty claims

Through Enphase's SunPower desk

Standard Enphase process

A typical swap includes a new combiner with the Enphase gateway, breakers, consumption CTs and panel mapping. For most homes we've quoted about $1,500, a one-time cost that ends the subscription and makes future repairs faster. Leased systems are different, because SunStrong owns the equipment, so check with SunStrong first.

What to do this week

Rivertown Solar is a NABCEP-certified installer based in Irvington, and we service SunPower systems across Westchester and the Hudson Valley. Whether you need a diagnostic, a microinverter replaced, or a monitoring swap that ends the subscription, contact us or call (914) 231-6866.

Sources

Source: https://www.rivertownsolar.com/troubleshooting/stuck-with-sunstrong-what-former-sunpower-owners-need-to-know/
© 2026 Rivertown Solar. All rights reserved.