Were you promised free solar or no more electric bills?

Short answer

The companies will enforce what you signed, not what you were told — which is why the promises matter only once they are compared, in writing, against the paperwork. The common ones are free or government-funded panels, no more electric bills, and an automatic tax credit. Regulators have documented the gap: the CFPB reported in August 2024 that fees folded into solar loans typically run 10 to 30 percent of the cash price, and can exceed 50 percent.

“Free” or “government-funded” solar

There is no federal program handing free solar systems to homeowners generally. What exists is a federal tax credit with eligibility rules — claimed on your taxes, worth something only if your tax position supports it — plus state and utility programs that vary. When a pitch turns that into “free panels, paid by the government,” the paperwork is where the truth is: the contract and the loan show who pays, how much, and for how long.

“You will never have another utility bill”

Most solar homes stay connected to the grid, and most utilities charge at least a connection or minimum fee every month. Production also varies by season and roof, while usage does not politely match it. Homeowners who were promised no more bills usually discover the truth in their first true-up statement — the utility’s once-a-year settling-up of the power you used against the power you made. Your bills from before and after installation, next to the savings estimate from the sale, are the evidence — gather all three.

The tax-credit promises

On a loan, you own the system and may be able to claim the credit, subject to the rules and your own taxes. On a lease or PPA, the company owns the system — and the credit generally belongs to the owner, not to you. Pitches blur this difference constantly, and some loans were even priced as if a credit the homeowner might never receive had already been applied. What your contract says about the credit, and your tax position, decide the answer; a tax professional can confirm yours.

Dealer fees: the quiet part of the loan

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s August 2024 report on residential solar lending found that dealer fees — charges from the dealer or installer, folded into the loan’s principal — typically run 10 to 30 percent of the cash price of the system and can exceed 50 percent. That is why the amount financed on the federal disclosure page is so often thousands more than the price a homeowner remembers. Find both numbers in your file: the cash price on the proposal, and the amount financed on the disclosure. The difference is the story of many disputes. The routes that follow from it are in how to get out of a solar loan.

Turning a broken promise into a paper record

Write down what was promised, by whom, and when, while you remember it. Save the proposal, the savings estimate, flyers, texts, and emails — screenshots with dates are fine. Then complain on the record: your state attorney general, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Federal Trade Commission all take solar complaints, and a written complaint creates a file that a servicer’s phone call never will. Whether the gap between pitch and paperwork gives you legal claims — including under the FTC Holder Rule, which can let a buyer raise claims against the loan holder that they could have raised against the seller — is a question for an attorney in your state.

Documents to gather

The sales proposal and the savings or production estimate
The signed contract and the federal disclosures — compare the numbers
Texts, emails, and flyers from the salesperson
Utility bills from before and after the installation
Production reports from the monitoring app
Your own written notes of what was promised, with dates and names

Questions to ask a licensed attorney

We are not a law firm, and this page is general information, not legal advice. These are the questions your paperwork raises that a licensed attorney in your state can answer for your situation:

The proposal and the contract show different numbers — what claims does that support in my state?
Does the FTC Holder Rule let me raise the seller’s promises against the lender?
What deadlines apply to complaints or claims about how this was sold?

Questions people also ask

The salesperson said the panels were free. The loan says otherwise. Which controls?

The signed loan controls what you owe — lenders collect on paper, not on pitches. That does not make the pitch irrelevant: a documented gap between what was promised and what was signed is exactly what consumer-protection complaints and legal claims are built from. Save the proposal, the estimate, and every message, and write down what was said while you remember it.

Why is my solar loan bigger than the price I was quoted?

Often, dealer fees. The CFPB’s August 2024 report on solar lending found that fees charged by dealers and installers are commonly folded into the loan’s principal — typically 10 to 30 percent of the cash price, and sometimes more than 50 percent — so the amount financed is higher than the cash price a homeowner remembers being quoted. Your federal disclosure page shows the amount financed; your proposal shows the cash price. Compare them.

Am I guaranteed the federal solar tax credit?

No salesperson can honestly guarantee it during a sales pitch: the credit has eligibility rules, it is claimed on your taxes rather than paid to you at signing, and on a lease or PPA the system belongs to the company, which generally claims the credit itself. What your contract says about the credit, and your own tax position, decide the answer — a tax professional can confirm yours.

My panels produce far less than the estimate. What can I do?

Start with records: the production estimate from the sale, your actual production history, and your bills. Some agreements include a production guarantee with a defined remedy; many do not. Either way, a documented shortfall is a fact pattern worth a complaint to your state attorney general or the CFPB, and an attorney’s review. Our workbooks are built to put the promise and the production side by side, from your own papers.

How the workbooks help

Your Actions is built for exactly this gap: it puts the proposal next to the contract, the estimate next to the production, and the pitch next to the disclosure page, step by step. The In-Depth Version documents every mismatch in your papers in full, in a form you can hand to a regulator or a professional you choose.

One package, $3,500 — both books always included. Each book is delivered by email within 3–5 business days of purchase; delivery occurs after the 3-day cancellation window closes.

Read a sample workbook (PDF) More homeowner questions