Just Bought a House With Solar? Your First-Year Checklist

A Tampa Bay buyer who closes on a home with solar owns a system they did not choose, installed by a company they have never heard of, on a roof whose age they got from a four-point inspection. Within the first year they need to know what the equipment is, whether it is producing what it should, who to call when it does not, where the roof under it stands, and whether any of it is still under warranty. Fused Solar and Roofing works through that with new owners in a set order, and the first step is a baseline inspection, because every other question is easier to answer with a report in hand. Fused Solar and Roofing is a licensed roofing (CCC1331058), electrical (EC13014750), and building contractor (CBC1252064), all three in-house.

1. Collect what the seller has

Before or at closing, ask for the original contract and proposal, the permit records, the equipment list with model numbers, the warranty documents, the monitoring login, the utility interconnection agreement, and any service history. Ask whether the system is owned outright, financed with a loan that transferred or was paid off, or leased or under a power purchase agreement, because a leased system belongs to the leasing company and comes with its own transfer process. If the seller has none of it, the county's permit portal has the permit and the inspection record, and the equipment can be identified from the roof.

🔑 Key Takeaway: Owned, financed, or leased is the first question. Everything else about the system follows from it.

2. Transfer the monitoring

The monitoring account is usually in the seller's name or, worse, the installer's. Each platform has a transfer process, and the new owner should get the account into their own name in the first month so they can see the system producing and receive its alerts. If the installer is out of business and the account is under the installer's login, the platform's support or a servicing contractor can usually recreate it. Fused does this for new owners as part of the first visit.

Once the account is yours, screenshot the last twelve months of production if the history came with it. That is the baseline you will compare against.

3. Transfer the utility account

The interconnection agreement with Tampa Electric, Duke, Withlacoochee River Electric, FPL, or Peace River is between the homeowner and the utility, and it transfers with the account when the new owner sets up service. Confirm with the utility that the account is on the solar rate and that the meter is still reading exports; a transfer that drops the solar designation means the owner pays full retail for power the array is sending back. The utility will have the system's interconnection record on file and can confirm the inverter it lists matches what is on the house.

💡 Pro Tip: On your first utility bill, look for the export or credit line. If it is not there, call the utility before the second bill.

4. Get a baseline inspection

A four-point or a general home inspection looks at a solar system from the ground, if at all. Fused's baseline inspection puts a licensed technician on the roof: every module, connector, mount, and flashing is inspected and photographed; the inverter or microinverters are checked for faults; the strings or panel-level output are compared; and the roof around the array is assessed for age and wear. The written report tells the new owner what they bought, what is fine, what to watch, and what needs correction, with the corrections quoted separately. It also identifies the equipment so the warranties can be checked.

This is a visual inspection with photos, not a thermal scan or a drone survey, and it is the first report in the series that every later year's visit compares against.

If the system is leased, the baseline inspection is still worth having, because the lease transfer usually commits the new owner to the payments regardless of what the array is doing, and the report is how the owner holds the lessor to its production guarantee.

5. Find out what is still under warranty

Panel warranties run twenty-five years on production from the manufacturer and transfer to a new owner in most cases, sometimes with a registration step. Inverter and microinverter warranties run ten to twenty-five years from the manufacturer and usually transfer. The installer's workmanship warranty transfers only if the installer still exists and its terms allow it; many do not, and many installers from the 2010s are gone. Fused checks each component against the manufacturer's records, tells the owner what is claimable, and handles the claims for the brands it is certified with: Enphase, SolarEdge, Tesla, Generac, Fronius, and SMA.

⚠️ Warning: Do not assume the seller's "the system is under warranty" covers labor or the roof penetrations. The manufacturer covers the part; whoever installed it covered the labor, and that company may not exist.

6. The roof under it

The buyer's inspection reported the roof's age. The baseline inspection reports its condition around the mounts and under the array's edges, which is where it matters. A new owner of a system on a fifteen-year-old shingle roof should hear, in the first year, roughly when the roof will need replacing and that the array will have to come off and go back on when it does, so that project can be planned rather than discovered. Fused Solar and Roofing is a licensed roofing (CCC1331058), electrical (EC13014750), and building contractor (CBC1252064), all three in-house. Who is allowed to do each part of that detach and reinstall, and why, is covered in our guide at https://fusedsolarandroofing.com/post/who-can-remove-reinstall-solar-florida

7. Put it on a schedule

Fused's annual solar maintenance plan is priced by panel count, starting at $495 a year, and includes an annual visual inspection with a written photo report, one panel cleaning, priority scheduling on service calls, and 20 percent off repair labor and parts. For a new owner, the plan is how the system gets a servicing company of record from the start, the monitoring gets watched for error messages, the roof gets looked at every spring, and the first year's questions do not become the fifth year's emergencies. Fused takes systems it did not install, which describes every system a new owner inherits.

8. Why new owners start with Fused

Because the first visit answers the questions the closing did not, in writing, from a company licensed for the equipment, the roof, and the detach and reinstall that is coming. Fused has serviced inherited systems across Tampa Bay since 2007, including systems whose installer closed years before the house changed hands.

🔑 Key Takeaway: Owned or leased, monitoring in your name, utility account on the solar rate, a baseline inspection with photos, warranties checked, roof timeline known, system on a schedule. That is the first year.

New to the house and the solar on it? Book a baseline inspection or ask about the annual plan at https://fusedsolarandroofing.com/fused-solar-roofing-service-department

Frequently Asked Questions

I just bought a house with solar panels. What should I do first?
Find out whether the system is owned, financed, or leased; get the monitoring into your name; confirm the utility account is on the solar rate; and get a baseline inspection with a photo report so you know what you own.

How do I transfer the solar monitoring to my name?
Each platform has a transfer process from the seller's account. If the account was under a closed installer's login, the platform's support or a servicing contractor can recreate it. Fused does this at the first visit.

Do solar warranties transfer to a new homeowner?
Manufacturer warranties on panels and inverters usually do, sometimes with a registration step. The installer's workmanship warranty transfers only if the installer still exists and its terms allow it.

Does my home inspection cover the solar system?
Usually only from the ground, if at all. A baseline inspection by a licensed solar contractor puts a technician on the roof and produces a written photo report on the equipment and the roof around it.

What if the company that installed the system is out of business?
Fused services and inspects systems it did not install, checks which manufacturer warranties survive, recovers the monitoring where possible, and is certified with Enphase, SolarEdge, Tesla, Generac, Fronius, and SMA.

How much is Fused's maintenance plan for an inherited system?
Priced by panel count, starting at $495 a year, including the annual inspection with photo report, one cleaning, priority scheduling, and 20 percent off repairs.

Fused Solar and Roofing has serviced solar systems across Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, and Manatee counties since 2007, including systems it did not install. Schedule a service visit at https://fusedsolarandroofing.com/fused-solar-roofing-service-department

Fused Solar and Roofing holds Florida roofing (CCC1331058), electrical (EC13014750), and building (CBC1252064) licenses, all three in-house, and has served Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, and Manatee counties since 2007. Fused Solar and Roofing is an EnergySage Elite Installer with a 5.0/5 rating and 21+ verified reviews, independent verification, earned not purchased. Book a baseline inspection or ask about the annual plan at https://fusedsolarandroofing.com/fused-solar-roofing-service-department