Topic · Sales practice patterns
What your salesperson won't say
The following patterns appear repeatedly in federal regulator findings, state attorney general enforcement actions, and Better Business Bureau complaint records. None of this is theoretical — the same patterns turn up in case after case. If you're sitting across from a solar salesperson, what they may not volunteer is below.
"The federal credit pays for about a third of it"
Past tense. The residential federal solar credit ended December 31, 2025 with the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill. Systems placed in service in 2026 or later as cash or loan installs receive no federal credit. Any quote referencing it for a 2026 cash or loan install is overstating savings.
"This is basically free with the credit"
Even when the credit was available, it was non-refundable — it offset federal income tax owed, not a check from the IRS. Retirees and others with low federal tax liability could not absorb the full credit. The CFPB documented widespread misrepresentation of this fact, with one homeowner quoted: "Had it been made clear to me that the tax credit is usually NOT cash, I never would have agreed to the loan."
"The monthly is about what you pay now"
The monthly is often structured to look like the homeowner's current electric bill — but the comparison is misleading. The structured monthly includes a dealer fee markup (ten to thirty percent of cash price, sometimes over fifty percent, per CFPB) rolled into the principal. The "you're already paying this" framing hides the fact that the homeowner is paying substantially more in total than the cash price would have been.
Always also ask: what is the cash price? The gap is the answer.
"Your bill will drop to zero"
It almost never does. The FTC identified this as the single most common deceptive practice in residential solar. Real outcomes commonly come in 10–20% below the salesperson's estimate; the worst documented case we reviewed had a homeowner whose system produced only 65% of promised output. "Savings" is doing three different jobs at once in that sentence — production estimate, utility tariff, and future consumption — and the salesperson collapses all three.
"You'll get full credit for whatever you send back"
Depends entirely on state and utility — and the date your system receives Permission to Operate. In Illinois, systems with PTO after December 31, 2024 receive export credit at the supply rate only, roughly half of the per-kWh value that the pre-2025 structure paid. In Michigan, DTE and Consumers Energy use a Distributed Generation tariff that pays differently from a one-to-one credit. In Colorado, Xcel still credits exported power at the same per-kWh rate the homeowner pays for power drawn from the grid, through 2026. In Oregon, PGE and Pacific Power retain one-to-one export crediting as of the verification date.
If a quote uses old credit math in a state that has changed, the savings projection is wrong.
"We're part of a special government program"
The Department of Energy has had to issue public statements clarifying that it does not offer free solar panels. The BBB issued a national scam alert in September 2023 specifically on door-to-door pitches claiming affiliation with DOE, the federal government, or a "rebate program." Some pitch variants offer a new roof "with a government rebate" — the rebate doesn't exist.
State incentive programs are real — Illinois Shines, Energy Trust of Oregon, Xcel Solar*Rewards — but they don't get signed up door-to-door by an unaffiliated salesperson.
"Just sign here, I'll explain it later"
The American Prospect documented multiple cases of e-signature abuse: a legally blind senior with a forged signature on a $50,000 loan; an 81-year-old on Social Security pressed her finger to a tablet without knowing what she was signing; a Spanish-speaking family in South Florida received a Spanish-titled letter promising free panels and signed a $60,000 contract in English.
Read the contract before signing. In your language. Off the salesperson's tablet. If the salesperson objects, that is itself the answer.
"You can cancel anytime"
Generally false. Most solar contracts have a short rescission window (3 business days under federal law for in-home sales), after which cancellation is governed by the contract terms. Colorado's SB25-299 (effective July 1, 2026) requires a mandatory pre-installation "welcome call" with disclosures, and a 3-business-day cancellation window that does not begin until that call is conducted. Other states do not have equivalent protection.
"If we go out of business, the warranty transfers"
Sometimes. Often not. Panel manufacturers warranty the panels; inverter manufacturers warranty the inverter; the installer's labor and workmanship warranty die with the installer in most bankruptcy cases. Pink Energy, bankruptcy October 2022, left an estimated 25,000–50,000 customers with stuck loans and non-functioning systems. Multiple state AGs pursued action; some homeowners recovered via the FTC Holder Rule against financing companies. Most did not.
Sources
- U.S. Treasury / CFPB / FTC joint announcement on residential solar consumer protections, August 2024. Source: home.treasury.gov · accessed 2026-05-13
- CFPB Issue Spotlight: Solar Financing, August 7, 2024. Source: consumerfinance.gov/data-research · accessed 2026-05-13
- BBB Scam Alert: "Free solar panels," September 22, 2023. Source: bbb.org/article/scams/27595 · accessed 2026-05-13
- The American Prospect, "Sunburnt — How Solar Salespeople Scam Homeowners," May 29, 2025. Source: prospect.org/environment · accessed 2026-05-13
- Colorado SB25-299 — Consumer Protection Residential Energy Systems, effective July 1, 2026. Source: leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb25-299 · accessed 2026-05-13
- Michigan AG / 8-state joint action against solar lenders re Pink Energy customer loans, November 29, 2022. Source: michigan.gov/ag/news · accessed 2026-05-13