WAUKESHA, Wis. — Sun Badger Solar advertises as an eco-friendly company hoping to make your home or business more energy efficient. However, dozens of customers have called TMJ4's Jenna Rae stating they've paid the money, but the work hasn't been completed.
"I was giving them the benefit of the doubt, but the wife, she's like, this is not right, there's something wrong here," Madison Curup said.
Curup signed a contract with Sun Badger Solar in May 2022.
"We paid almost $20,000," Curup disclosed.
Curup said that amount, was only half the amount owed to Sun Badger. It's now February 2023, and they have no solar panels. Curup isn't alone. The I-Team's talked to dozens of customers across Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin who said they have invested thousands of dollars and said they either have no solar panels or panels that don't work.
According to Wisconsin's Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP), 35 complaints have been filed against Sun Badger. Wisconsin's Better Business Bureau (BBB) is seeing the same thing. Lisa Schiller with the BBB told TMJ4 that since the beginning of 2023, they've received 45 complaints. However, the I-Team has learned the complaints aren't just from customers.
"I feel horrible for the customers. To be honest with you, I'm embarrassed to say I worked here," Ted Beringer said.
Beringer was a supervising electrician with Sun Badger's Waukesha branch. He told us that he and other employees knew customers' calls were going unanswered and the work was unfinished.
"I was seeing a majority of jobs getting started and then they just sat," Beringer explained.
Sun Badger Solar, which has business licenses in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Florida is run by Trevor Sumner, a local in Waukesha. TMJ4 tried calling Sumner several times. We even showed up at the Sun Badger headquarters in Waukesha to find the door locked and lights off. Later, the I-Team went to Sumner's home. Minutes after we left his home, where a woman told us he wasn't there, he called the I-Team's Jenna Rae.
Sumner agreed to a phone interview and later admitted to delayed work and unpaid employees. He said it's due to an external company Sun Badger contracted with that backed out, leaving Sun Badger in a hole. When we asked about customers' unfinished, but paid-for work, he said he's working to mitigate that.
"The first thing I'd say is I'm sorry and that nobody would've ever intended for that to happen, but I'll also say we're not idle right now, and we're looking for a solution or any path forward for their investment," Sumner explained.
There are several lawsuits filed in Wisconsin and Minnesota against Sun Badger Solar. For a week now, TMJ4's been investigating this company and we'll continue following this story.