A former worker and three vendors are attempting to put the state's largest locally owned solar energy systems company into bankruptcy as they seek payment for $215,000 they say is owed them.

The four filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition last week against Sunetric's parent company, Elemental Energy LLC, saying it has failed to pay them.

Sean Mullen, Sunetric president, said he had not seen the petition and could not offer much comment on it.

"What I can tell you is that Sunetric has been making payments to its vendors in a timely fashion," Mullen said in an e-mailed statement.

"Sunetric realized tremendous growth in 2008 and are continuing to grow in profitability with many projects finalized and many more being completed this year.

"We are confident that the courts will find the petition was filed in bad faith, initiated by a small group of disgruntled ex-employees who have now opened a competing company."

Sunetric has seen staff departures this year, including five former employees who have formed a new company, Distributed Energy Partners.

Under an involuntary bankruptcy, at least three creditors who are owed at least $13,475 may ask a bankruptcy court to rule they have legitimate claims and put a company into bankruptcy.

Such adversarial bankruptcies are rare and can pose risks for creditors if the court rules against them, possibly requiring them to pay for court and attorney costs for the company at the heart of the action.

The four creditors who are seeking to get paid through a Chapter 7 bankruptcy include former Sunetric employee Joshua Powell, who claims he is owed $175,000 and Pang Communications, which said it is owed $5,200 for work it did promoting Kailua-based Sunetric. Powell is now a partner at Distributed Energy while Pang Communications has issued press releases for the new firm.

In addition, Allison-Ide Structural Engineers LLC is claiming $12,985 for work it says was performed for Sunetric, while PLS Builders says it is owed $21,800. The creditors' case was filed by attorney Chuck Choi.

Sunetric was formed in 2004 and has built up a long list of customers for whom it did design and installation work for photovoltaic and solar hot water systems in the state.

Among its clients are photovoltaic systems for the Kona Commons shopping center and Actus Lend Lease, a company that builds military housing here.