When Sun Badger Solar went out of business in March this year, it is alleged to have left customers in the Midwest unable to get refunds, according to a lawsuit filed this week by the city of Chicago.
A now-shuttered suburban solar panel installation company swindled dozens of Chicagoans by promising quick installations that it knew would likely never be completed, according to a lawsuit filed this week by the city of Chicago. Solar Panel System
Customers were paying an average of $13,000 in down payments to Sun Badger Solar through all of 2022, but the company had stopped fulfilling new orders earlier that year after running low on cash, according to the suit.
The Arlington Heights-based company “robbed Peter to pay Paul” to keep the business afloat without doing work on the contracts, the lawsuit claims.
When Sun Badger Solar went out of business in March this year, it left customers in the Midwest unable to get refunds.
More than 500 people have joined a private Facebook group “Sun Badger Solar bad reviews,” where people from Illinois and at least four other states have asked advice on retrieving down payments from their banks or credit card companies.
One alleged victim from Chicago paid a $15,446 deposit in April 2022 to Sun Badger, which told them the solar panels would be installed within three to four months, the lawsuit states.
But the company came back months later claiming it ran into a delay getting a permit from the city, claiming the city had changed its permit requirements, the suit states.
The company allegedly could not offer a new timeline. But the city said it never received permit applications related to that alleged victim and that it hasn’t changed its permitting process in a decade.
The customer still hasn’t received a refund, according to the suit.
A representative for the company could not immediately be reached for comment.
Clean Solar Panels Sun Badger Solar was sued last month by the Minnesota attorney general’s office for similar alleged misconduct. In Wisconsin, the Dane County sheriff’s office last month said it had opened an investigation into the company for unfulfilled contracts. And the Wisconsin Department of Revenue has filed a tax warrant against Sun Badger.