Banks held liable for solar panels that do not work

Courts in Toulouse and Bordeaux have have made a bank pay the price for customers’ solar power installations where the work was not done properly and the bank did not make sufficient checks.

Banque Solfea (part-owned by BNP and Engie) has been blamed in several court cases where customers signed finance deals for solar installations with companies such as Groupe Sol­aire de France and EuroFrance Solaire which were never completed, did not provide the power or financial return promised.

When customers complained to their installer they found it had gone under – but they were still expected to pay loans of €19,900 as the bank had paid the companies without checking they had completed the work. Customers then sued the bank.