Adding solar panels to your home is a big commitment, and it’s a new experience for many buyers. Now, a “small number” of solar-panel companies that are engaging in overly aggressive sales tactics or are outright scamming consumers are being put on watch by the federal government.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission, among other agencies, said they’re working to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive sales practices in a U.S. solar industry that is expected to grow significantly nationwide in the next few years. The government agencies are launching an information offensive, creating web pages devoted to educating solar shoppers and providing resources where consumers can file complaints about scams and other bad business practices.
As solar energy has gotten more popular, the agencies say, some companies have preyed on consumers by offering predatory and costly loans. Some of the red flags include not giving shoppers access to their solar-installation contracts, promising incentives that the homeowners doesn’t qualify for, or offering a loan rate that will shoot up over time. CNET and other websites have published stories warning consumers about solar-industry scams that have threatened to earn the entire industry a bad reputation.
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“After the Supreme Court ruled in favor of its funding structure in May, the CFPB appears to have gotten more confident about its power to protect consumers against what it considers unfair practices,” said CNET senior editor Tiffany Connors. “Compared to the first half of the year, the agency has issued more rulings on a broad range of topics, including buy-now pay-later services, mortgage servicing and paycheck advances.”
Deceptive loans became so widespread that in 2021, HBO’s Last Week Tonight With John Oliver devoted an entire episode to the property assessed clean energy program, a program meant to pay for environmentally friendly home renovations, and how fraudulent loans for clean-energy improvements put homeowners at risk.
The industry itself has been trying to combat bad players with new standards. The Solar Energy Industries Association has proposed standards aimed at shielding homeowners and small businesses from solar scams and deceptive offers as well as protect them from shoddy workmanship on the installations themselves.
The actions of the federal agencies in addressing fraud in the solar industry suggests the government is catching up to a widespread problem that has been plaguing the burgeoning solar-energy market.
CNET has a vetted list of some of the nation’s best solar-energy companies, but no matter which company you choose, it’s always best to get multiple quotes before choosing an installer and doing your research on their business.