Penguin Home Solutions reviews
• last updated FEB 26, 2026Loading map...
The Verdict
This company went under mid-2023, leaving customers with dismantled systems, unpaid supplier liens, and zero recourse. One homeowner in April sat four months into a replacement project with only old panels leaning against the house after Penguin removed the working system and ghosted. Another discovered the company hadn't paid suppliers, triggering a mechanics lien on the home. We found 27 complaints about post-sale support and 24 about value, a pattern that screams institutional failure, not isolated mishaps. Even before the collapse, the track record was grim. Installers drilled through vaulted ceilings, broke air conditioners during roof work, and left systems producing 40 percent below guarantee. One system went offline twice in its first 18 months, sitting dark for three months the second time while the company dodged appointment requests. By summer 2023, the phone line rang once and went to a busy signal. (If your installer's number doesn't even connect, that's not a red flag. It's a white flag of surrender.) The owner stopped returning calls in May 2023, and former employees confirmed the business was finished.
If you signed a contract with Penguin before mid-2023, consult a construction attorney about liens and incomplete work. If you're researching them now, understand the company is defunct. You need an active, solvent installer who'll be around in five years when your inverter fails.
Reviews That Shaped Our Verdict
Otis hired Penguin to replace his SunPower home solar system, but what started as a scheduled upgrade turned into a half-finished teardown. In January 2023 the crew removed all the panels and inverters, then walked away and left the old equipment piled on the property. A promised follow-up installation became a no-call/no-show, and every call and message to Penguin’s Riverside and Sacramento offices went unanswered. He discovered SunPower was being ignored by Penguin as well. Four months after Penguin dismantled the system, he remained without solar power and with panels and inverters leaning against the house and crowding his garage. He gave one star — there wasn’t a zero to pick — and the image that sticks is the abandoned equipment still taking up space months later.
Gautier C hired Penguin Home Solutions for a solar install that included redoing the roof beneath the panels. He discovered they removed the existing tiles and, without warning, replaced them with shingles instead of re-tiling, tossed the old tiles during the work and even broke his air-conditioning unit. He has been pushing the company for compensation since September and, after several weeks of back-and-forth, the last six weeks have brought silence. A year after the installation his system is producing about 40% less than the company guaranteed, and he anticipates another dispute when performance guarantees are addressed. He plans to take the matter to small claims court to recover damages — the damaged AC and a system running well below warranty expectations are the details that stuck with him.
Tim B ran a solar sales company and had relied on Penguin as his go-to installer for years, producing consistent results and leaving many customers satisfied. That trust unraveled after the CPUC approved NEM 3.0: in March 2023 Penguin began changing payment milestones for sales partners like him, and then stopped paying altogether while offering excuses. Fortunately, the last two customers he had contracted with Penguin saw their systems installed and completed just before the problems began. The NEM decision wiped out the economics of his business, so he folded his company soon after. One of Penguin’s owners — someone Tim knows personally — told him in May that a new investor was stepping in, then went silent and stopped returning calls or messages. He also spoke with several long-time former Penguin employees who told him the company was “toast.” Tim is now trying to help a couple of clients who have system problems by finding alternative ways to fix them. The concrete takeaway: an industry insider watched a long-standing installer collapse after a policy shock, leaving unpaid partners and a handful of customers scrambling for repairs.
Platforms Monitored
Performance by Work Type
How We Got To Trust Score 29
No Red Flags
Unauthorized Activities
Passed screening
Misleading Claims
Passed screening
Background Check
Serving customers for 3 years
Newer than most installers in the market.
BBB Rating: NR
Poor BBB standing. Significant complaints.
Natural Review Patterns
Reviews were posted naturally over time.
Contractor License
License information could not be confirmed.
What You Can Expect
Tim B ran a solar sales company and had relied on Penguin as his go-to installer for years, producing consistent results and leaving many customers satisfied. That trust unraveled after the CPUC approved NEM 3.0: in March 2023 Penguin began changing payment milestones for sales partners like him, and then stopped paying altogether while offering excuses. Fortunately, the last two customers he had contracted with Penguin saw their systems installed and completed just before the problems began. The NEM decision wiped out the economics of his business, so he folded his company soon after. One of Penguin’s owners — someone Tim knows personally — told him in May that a new investor was stepping in, then went silent and stopped returning calls or messages. He also spoke with several long-time former Penguin employees who told him the company was “toast.” Tim is now trying to help a couple of clients who have system problems by finding alternative ways to fix them. The concrete takeaway: an industry insider watched a long-standing installer collapse after a policy shock, leaving unpaid partners and a handful of customers scrambling for repairs.
Patti S had Penguin Home Solutions install a solar system on her home in September 2021 and paid for it up front. Production has averaged roughly 30 KW a day, and the install itself went in with just a couple of minor hiccups that the crew quickly corrected. Eddie stepped in during that process and proved especially helpful. About a year after installation the inverter failed; Penguin ordered a replacement promptly and the new unit arrived and was installed about six weeks later, and so far the system has been performing well. She also learned they offer a monthly payment option if you don’t pay cash. The memorable part of her experience wasn’t the smooth paperwork or the daily output so much as the fast, hands-on response when the inverter went bad — Eddie’s involvement and the quick replacement are what she tells friends about.
Ettore began the process in February, signing papers for a solar installation. The system was installed more than two months ago, but after he paid Penguin the company disappeared. He ran into obstacles at every turn: the installer stopped answering calls, phones appeared disconnected, and PGE told him they hadn’t heard from Penguin since the permit application. He ended up with an installed system but no communication, no utility coordination, and labelled the company “crooks.” The most striking detail: payment was made and then the installer went silent while the utility had no record of further contact.