Solar panel sales scams: the 'free solar' pitch that ends in a loan you never read
A salesperson — at your door or in your social feed — promises free solar panels through a 'government program.' The FTC calls the pitch likely a scam, and state lawsuits allege forged signatures and loans disguised as 'interest forms.' Here's how the sale really works, and how to shop for solar safely.
The pitch arrives sunny side up. A salesperson at your door — or a slick ad in your social feed — says you’ve been chosen: free solar panels, installed at no cost, because a government program, grant, or rebate covers everything. You’ll never pay another electric bill. The FTC’s September 2024 consumer alert opens with exactly this scene — a knock at the door promising free rooftop solar panels at no cost to you — and delivers the verdict in four words: it’s likely a scam. Rooftop solar itself is real, and most installers are legitimate businesses. The scam is in the sale: what’s pitched as free is, underneath, a long-term loan or lease you were never meant to read.
The first move costs nothing: nothing gets signed at the door, on the day, on their screen. A real solar deal survives a week of thinking. This one is engineered not to.
The pitch: “free,” “government,” “today”
Every version leans on the same three words. “Free” removes your price-checking. “Government program” borrows authority — and the FTC’s September 2024 alert is unusually blunt about it: while some government-funded solar programs exist for households that qualify, “going solar” isn’t free, and companies that say a government program will cover the whole cost, or that they’re from or affiliated with the government, are telling you lies — the alert’s word, not ours. “Today” removes the pause. It’s the same authority costume worn by the utility shut-off imposter and the government grant scam — but where the grant scam ends with a fee you pay, this one ends with a contract you sign. That’s what makes it more dangerous: the victim hands over no cash at the door, so nothing feels like a payment. The payment comes later, monthly, for decades.
The loan hiding under the “free”
In August 2024, the CFPB published an issue spotlight on solar financing, and its findings map the trap precisely. Hidden “dealer fees” folded into solar loans can raise the principal 30 percent or more above the cash price — a markup most borrowers never see, because it isn’t disclosed as one. Sales pitches routinely subtract the 30 percent federal tax credit from the quoted cost as if everyone gets it, but the CFPB warns the credit “is not a guarantee” — it depends on your own tax liability. And many solar-specific loans are built to re-amortize around month 18: unless you prepay roughly 30 percent of the principal — conveniently, the size of that tax credit you may or may not receive — your monthly payment jumps. The CFPB also noted how the paperwork gets past people: deals presented on a salesperson’s tablet, where fine print is easy to miss and easy to rush.
When sales tactics turn into forgery
State enforcement shows how far the doorstep version goes. In July 2024, Connecticut’s attorney general sued Sunrun and two solar sales companies, alleging they “locked Connecticut homeowners into long-term solar panel contracts without their full and informed consent.” In one incident described in the lawsuit, two salespeople allegedly “forged an electric signature” after a consumer declined; in another, the suit alleges an employee “impersonated the consumer’s voice on a confirmation call.” In March 2026, New York’s attorney general sued solar company Attyx, its executives, and its lending partners over an allegedly fraudulent scheme totaling nearly $275 million, saying salespeople told homeowners — many retired and on fixed incomes — that they were merely signing application or credit-check forms, when they were actually being committed to expensive systems and loans. Those are allegations in pending lawsuits, not verdicts. But they explain the tablet: a screen you never control is how a “credit check” becomes a contract. If your parents own their roof, this belongs in the same conversation as our guide to protecting aging parents from scams.
What legitimate solar shopping looks like
Run the film in reverse and you get the Department of Energy’s picture of a real solar purchase. You start it: you research whether your roof is even suitable, you collect quotes from multiple installers, and you check credentials — the DOE points to NABCEP certification as the industry standard for installers. You compare financing paths knowing the DOE’s general finding that a purchased system usually costs less in total than one financed through a loan, lease, or power purchase agreement. And you follow the DOE’s blunt sales advice: don’t give in to pushy sales tactics. Notice the rhyme with the storm-chaser repair scam: there, the rule is that after a disaster you call contractors, not the reverse. Solar is the fair-weather twin — no storm required, same direction-of-travel test. Good installers are busy quoting customers who called them. The one working your doorbell on commission chose you.
The defense
This is a Too Good = Gone problem: “free panels plus no electric bill” is the too-good offer, and the offer itself is the warning. The four moves in the defense box above — refuse the free framing, refuse the tablet, treat the tax credit as unconfirmed, and make installers compete on paper — end every variant before it starts, without costing you a real solar project if you actually want one.
If you already signed
Speed matters, because cancellation windows are short. If the sale happened at your home, the FTC’s Cooling-Off Rule generally gives you three business days to cancel a sale of $25 or more — the seller is required to tell you about this right and give you a cancellation form. Past that window: get complete copies of everything bearing your signature from both the installer and the lender, pull your credit reports to find any loan you didn’t knowingly take, and check for liens or fixture filings on your home. Dispute misrepresented terms with the lender in writing. Then report — to your state attorney general, to the CFPB at consumerfinance.gov/complaint for the loan itself, and to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. If your signature was forged, add a police report; the Connecticut and New York cases both began with homeowners who spoke up.
For the full playbook of free defenses, see our defense moves — or test your eye with the 60-second quiz.
- A salesperson at your door — or an ad in your feed — promises free rooftop solar panels, or says a government program, grant, or rebate will cover your installation so you'll never pay another electric bill. The FTC's September 2024 alert calls that pitch likely a scam.
- They claim to be from the government or your utility company, or "partnered" with one. The FTC's answer to companies that say a government program will cover the whole cost, or that they're affiliated with the government: "These are lies."
- The entire deal lives on the salesperson's tablet, and you're told you're only signing an "interest form" or a credit check. New York's attorney general alleges exactly this move was used to put homeowners into expensive solar loans they never knowingly took out.
- "Free solar" is the tell, not the deal. The FTC's September 2024 alert is plain that while some government-funded solar programs exist for households that qualify, "going solar" isn't free — honest companies tell you exactly what it costs.
- Never sign anything on a doorstep tablet. Ask for the full contract and loan paperwork to review overnight. The CFPB found in August 2024 that hidden dealer fees can raise a solar loan's principal 30 percent or more above the cash price — the kind of thing you only catch on paper.
- Treat the 30 percent federal tax credit as a maybe, not a discount. The CFPB warns the credit "is not a guarantee" — whether you can use it depends on your own tax situation — yet many loans are structured to jump to a higher payment around month 18 unless you prepay roughly that amount.
- You pick the installer; they don't pick you. Get multiple quotes from certified installers — the Department of Energy points to NABCEP certification as the industry standard — verify licenses, and let written quotes compete. The DOE's own advice: don't give in to pushy sales tactics.
The tell I trust most in this one is the tablet. A rooftop solar deal is a five-figure home improvement with a financing tail measured in decades — a transaction that should produce a stack of paper you can read at your kitchen table overnight. When the whole thing lives on a salesman's tablet, angled toward you only for the signature box, the medium is the message: it's built so you can't read it. My rule for family is one sentence — nothing that touches the roof or the mortgage gets signed on someone else's screen.
Sources
- FTC — Solar energy is rising in popularity. So are the scams (consumer alert, September 2024)
- CFPB — Issue Spotlight: Solar Financing (August 2024)
- DOE — Homeowner's Guide to Solar (Solar Energy Technologies Office)
- Connecticut Attorney General — Attorney General Tong Sues Sunrun, Solar Salesforce Companies Over Deceptive and Unlawful Sales Tactics (July 2024)
- New York Attorney General — Attorney General James Sues Home Solar Power Company and Lenders for Cheating New Yorkers (March 2026)
Frequently asked
Aren't there real government solar incentives, though?
Yes — and that's exactly what the scam borrows. The federal residential clean energy tax credit is real, and some government-funded programs exist for households that qualify. But none of them work the way the pitch describes: the government does not send salespeople door to door handing out free panels, and the FTC's September 2024 alert says companies claiming a government program will cover the whole cost, or claiming government affiliation, are lying. Real incentives also flow in the opposite direction — you claim the tax credit on your own return, and the CFPB warns it "is not a guarantee," because it depends on your tax liability. The same one-way rule that kills [government grant scams](/government-grant-scam) applies here: real government money is something you apply for, never something that knocks.
I only signed an 'interest form' on the salesperson's tablet. Could I actually be on the hook for a loan?
Treat it as possible until proven otherwise — that scenario is drawn from real enforcement cases. In a March 2026 lawsuit, New York's attorney general alleged that solar salespeople told consumers they were merely signing application or credit-check forms when they were actually being signed up for expensive systems and loans; Connecticut's attorney general alleged in a July 2024 lawsuit that sales reps forged an electronic signature outright. Move now: demand copies of everything you "signed" from the company and any lender, pull your credit reports to look for a new loan, and check with your county recorder for a lien or fixture filing on your home. If a sale happened at your home, the FTC's Cooling-Off Rule generally gives you three business days to cancel. Then complain to your state attorney general and the CFPB — and if your signature was forged, file a police report.
The panels are installed, the savings never showed up, and the company won't answer. What now?
Put everything in writing, and work both the installer and the lender. Send a written complaint to the installer, and dispute with the finance company directly — tell them the loan was sold with misrepresented terms and savings, and ask them to investigate. Then escalate: file with your state attorney general's consumer protection office, submit a complaint to the CFPB (which took solar lending on directly in its August 2024 report), and report the company to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Be careful in the aftermath, too: companies that cold-call offering to get you out of a bad solar loan for an upfront fee are running the same con as [recovery scammers](/recovery-scam-paying-to-get-money-back) — people stuck in bad deals are a targeted audience.