Avoiding Solar Scam Artists

­Thinking of adding solar panels to your home but worried about scams? No, I’m not trying to sell you anything, but a lot of people – with clipboards and possibly yellow reflective vests – are, and some of them have ill intentions. CNET has a fascinating piece up on protecting yourself against these high-pressure, low-value charlatans.

The time has never been riper. Federal regulations, politics, and the maturation of renewable energy tech are all colluding to favor solar power.

More importantly, federal incentives (including those provided by the Inflation Reduction Act) and a host of local and state enticements are giving homeowners monetary motivations to embrace photovoltaics.

But whenever a new tech like solar breaks through, a host of scam artists inevitably jockey with legitimate businesses for a piece of the pie. In this case, it’s even more alarming because most of these salesmen, legitimate and otherwise, show up unannounced at your home.

One of the first red flags is when they don’t work for the company doing the actual installing. The scammers will hire independent contractors, who may not even realize they’re fronting for criminals, and incentivize them with high commissions.

As you’d expect, these individuals promise the world, use high-pressure sales tactics (like limited-time deals), try to force you to sign a contract on-the-spot, and talk more than they listen.

They’ll go to a home deep in the woods, with little sunlight, and make the same lofty promises as they would to a house with little shade and ideal conditions.

And here’s the kicker – they’ll promise “free” solar. I’ve run into that zinger more than once, myself.

In my home state of New Jersey, about 83% of the solar panels installed in the last 4 years are third-party owned, meaning that a salesman promised “free” solar – i.e., a company owns the panels installed on your home, and you pay a monthly fee to lease the panels and buy the energy from them.

The solar power from these leased panels can certainly be cheaper than more traditional sources of energy, but the whole deal comes with a host of downsides – for one, you usually sign a contract, and the company reserves the right to raise your monthly fees.

You don’t get the federal tax credits or other local incentives – those go to the third-party – and there’s no “break even” point like there is for most renewable energy tech. And it doesn’t just (potentially) make your home harder to sell –depending on the contract, you could end up having to pass the obligation on to the next buyer.

A lot of us want to go green, but if you want to dive into the burgeoning world of photovoltaics, make sure you do your due diligence and stay alert for scammers.