Hauppauge solar installer Surf Clean Energy files for bankruptcy protection

Surf Clean Energy, a Hauppauge-based rooftop solar-power installer with business across the state and in Pennsylvania, has filed for bankruptcy protection, citing a “substantial disruption” to the solar industry caused by expiring federal tax rebates.

It’s the latest sign of difficulty for a once-thriving solar-energy industry that has been under pressure for years because of declining support at the state level, where generous rebates have also largely expired, and more recent attacks on green energy from the Trump administration, which has branded the sector the “green new scam.”

Last month, Newsday reported that EmPower Solar, one of Long Island’s largest installers, shut down operations after more than two decades in business, also citing loss of the federal credit. The credits reduced homeowner costs for the $25,000-plus systems by one-third or more.

Surf Clean Energy in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in federal court in Central Islip last month listed debts of just over $2.1 million and assets of between $500,000 and $1 million.

Tyler Moston, founder and chief executive of Surf Clean Energy, said he was continuing with "business as usual" while restructuring the company through bankruptcy. He said the company suffered a particularly hard financial hit when national solar leasing company PosiGen went bankrupt late last year. He declined to say how much money PosiGen owed Surf.

Moston, of Patchogue, formed Surf Clean Energy in 2018 and grew it to the point of installing upward of 350 rooftop systems last year, from western New York to Long Island and Pennsylvania. He said he's working with other installers to service some of his customers, including SUNation Energy. 

In court papers, the company said the bankruptcy filing would provide a “breathing spell necessary to continue to operate its business,” while it attempts an “orderly reorganization to maximize value for the creditors and other parties in interest.”

Surf Clean Energy “believes that with the protections of this court and the bankruptcy code, it will be able to protect its assets, maximize value of the estate for creditors, and propose a meaningful, feasible and confirmable plan of reorganization.”

Calls to the company’s Hauppauge sales office rang to a busy signal. Moston said he plans to re-establish the phone line and renew the company's web site as part of the restructuring. "We're not going anywhere," he said, noting the company opted through the court to restructure the business rather than liquidate. 

In its filings, Surf Clean Energy said passage of the Trump administration’s “Big Beautiful Bill” by Congress last summer “created substantial disruption to the solar industry by eliminating certain tax credits and benefits related to solar power that also impacted the company’s operations.”

The company said it had 31 employees at the time of the filing in March, including seven salaried employees, and a monthly payroll of $240,000.

Among Surf’s largest creditors are Dallas-based solar distributor Soligent, to which it owes $453,295, and the New York State Insurance Fund, to which it owes a “disputed” $262,000, as well as several financial lenders, according to the filing.

Separately last week, Freedom Forever, a Temecula, Calif.-based solar installer with a national customer base and a Long Island office, also filed for bankruptcy protection. Calls to the company indicated that it is “pausing operations until further notice.” Debts of more than $500 million include payments owed to solar-panel makers and a solar finance company, according to the website PV Tech.

SUNation Energy, one of Long Island’s oldest and largest installers, said the difficulties being faced by solar companies are part of the fallout from the loss of the tax credit, but some companies are adjusting.

SUNation chief Scott Maskin said his company recently partnered with a new finance company to offer a pre-paid leasing option, as tax credits on leases are still available from the federal government. He also said his company completed a layoff of some 20 employees earlier this month as part of a plan to “right size the business.”

Maskin predicted the business over the next year could be "brutal," but said his plan is to adapt to market conditions and work with LIPA/PSEG on programs that can help spark new sales while bringing down system costs.

“Right-sizing the business is the most important thing right now," he said. "You cannot carry overhead trying to anticipate what will happen three months from now.” SUNation has seen sales trend upward in March compared with February, he said, after a record end to 2025 as customers sought to take advantage of the expiring tax credit.

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.