Know your solar rights

From tele­vi­sion and radio com­mer­cials to post­cards in our mail­box­es and sales reps knock­ing on our doors, the mar­ket­ing of solar pow­er is promi­nent across our area.

Most sales pitch­es promise to save you thou­sands of dol­lars on your pow­er bill if you install solar pan­els on your prop­er­ty. What often gets missed in the mes­sag­ing is the huge invest­ment and long-term com­mit­ment that is required with most solar instal­la­tion con­tracts.

Unfor­tu­nate­ly, we’ve heard from a num­ber of mem­bers over the past few years who were vic­tim­ized by solar com­pa­nies using uneth­i­cal sales tac­tics. They were promised easy financ­ing and a rooftop sys­tem that would near­ly elim­i­nate their elec­tric­i­ty bill. What they got was tens of thou­sands of dol­lars of debt and a min­i­mal reduc­tion in their bill, nowhere near the return on their invest­ment they thought was com­ing when they signed the con­tract.

Last sum­mer, the South Car­oli­na Depart­ment of Con­sumer Affairs announced new reg­u­la­tions on the mar­ket­ing and sale of renew­able ener­gy. Solar com­pa­nies are now required to meet the fol­low­ing guide­lines to help con­sumers make informed deci­sions and pre­vent preda­to­ry sales tac­tics:

• Con­sumers aged 70 or old­er must be allowed to review con­tracts for at least three days pri­or to sign­ing.
• All con­sumers may can­cel a con­tract with­out fees or penal­ty with­in 10 days of sign­ing it.
• Prospec­tive clients must be pro­vid­ed an edu­ca­tion­al brochure that details solar basics, con­sumer rights, ques­tions to ask the sell­er, and red flags to watch for.
• Before sign­ing a con­tract, con­sumers must be pro­vid­ed a dis­clo­sure state­ment that clear­ly lays out the spec­i­fi­ca­tions and costs of the solar instal­la­tion.
• When a build­ing per­mit is denied or a consumer’s home­own­ers asso­ci­a­tion does not approve the install, a con­sumer has sev­en days to can­cel the con­tract or amend it.
• Con­sumers must be giv­en a copy of the con­tract that con­tains a descrip­tion of all fees, install dates, details on any sav­ings described, war­ran­ty infor­ma­tion, and more details required by the law.

As your trust­ed ener­gy advi­sor, we’re glad that our mem­bers are receiv­ing clear­er and more depend­able infor­ma­tion about solar arrays.

The truth is, rooftop solar isn’t for every­one, no mat­ter who is mak­ing the sale. Some­times there isn’t enough expo­sure from the sun or space on the roof. Some­times the actu­al ener­gy reduc­tion poten­tial doesn’t jus­ti­fy the invest­ment in a solar sys­tem. State and fed­er­al tax cred­its offered for solar instal­la­tions may not apply in all sit­u­a­tions as only con­sumers with a suf­fi­cient tax lia­bil­i­ty are eli­gi­ble.

That’s why we encour­age you to con­tact us to speak to York Electric’s res­i­dent solar advi­sor Brent Clin­ton at (803) 628‑5554. We can pro­vide data about your ener­gy use and help you cal­cu­late whether solar is right for you. If you do decide to install solar at your home, we’ll also guide you and your solar con­trac­tor through our net meter­ing con­nec­tion process.

We want to help you make the best deci­sion for your home, now and in the future.