Sun Badger Solar founders charged with theft

MADISON (WKOW)  – Two founders of a solar company are now charged in Dane County for what investigators describe as a monthslong scheme that left homeowners and businesses out thousands of dollars and without promised solar panel installations.

Trevor Sumner and Kristopher Sipe, founders of Sun Badger Solar, each face charges of theft by contractor in connection with the alleged activity.

According to investigators, between 2022 and 2023, the men agreed to projects ranging from more than $10,000 to nearly $100,000. In some cases, work on the projects never began.

“We didn’t hear anything else, and we got to December, and we started getting a little suspicious,” Dale Lavelle said, a Fitchburg resident who contracted Sun Badger Solar for a project at his house.

Lavelle paid more than $11,000 as a down payment after signing a contract in September 2022, according to a criminal complaint. The project was repeatedly delayed, and he said communication from the company was minimal.

“There was one letter that came,” Lavelle said. “It said they were working on it, no real commitments.”

Lavelle was able to dispute the payment through his credit card and get his money back.

Another business, Kavanaugh Restaurant Supply, reported paying more than $49,000 for a project that was never started.

Investigators say bank records show customer payments were moved between accounts, including personal accounts, and spent on travel, dining and other personal expenses.

State Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection officials reported that 143 people filed complaints about Sun Badger Solar in 2023, citing issues such as failure to provide services, improper installation and misleading representations.

Cases of theft by Sun Badger Solar don’t stop in Wisconsin. The criminal complaint references actions in Minnesota, where the state’s attorney general issued a press release accusing the company of failing to install promised solar panels and leaving customers without refunds:

“Attorney General Ellison takes actions to protect consumers from deceptive conduct in the solar industry.”

July 17, 2024 (SAINT PAUL) — Attorney General Keith Ellison announced today the filing of four more settlements against solar installers and advertisers. The first two settlements prohibit Kris Sipe and Trevor Sumner, the founders of Sun Badger Solar, from doing business in Minnesota in the future. The settlements, both of which are termed Assurances of Discontinuance, are a product of the Attorney General’s investigation into Sun Badger, which revealed that Sun Badger failed to install promised solar arrays and forced consumers to renegotiate the interest rates on their solar loans due to delays by Sun Badger. The company entered receivership, a local form of bankruptcy, in its home state of Wisconsin, where the receiver determined that there were insufficient funds to refund consumers. Notably, prior to founding Sun Badger, Sipe and Sumner were employees of Able Energy, a company that swindled over $1 million from consumers by charging them for work that was never completed.”

Similar investigators and business activity involving Sun Badger Solar is also reported in Illinois.

Sipe and Sumner each face two felony counts. If convicted, each count carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.