Learn How To Protect Yourself Against Shady Sales Practices, Outright Scams And Overpaying When Purchasing A Solar System For Your Home Or Business.
2018 will be remembered as the year of the great flood. Not of the hydrological variety kind but rather the great flood of solar panel brands, literally hundreds from all over the world that have hit the U.S. market.
Some of these brands are actually quite excellent in both quality and performance, while the vast majority of other brands are the last thing that you would ever want to put on your roof. The problem for most consumers is knowing the difference.
In the following article we'll teach you how dig through the most common gimmicks, hype and scams so that you can feel completely comfortable when purchasing a solar system.
1. "$1,000.00 Off Solar Panels" I'm sure you've seen ads like this. The problem is $1,000.00 off what ? Click into these websites and you'll almost never find any pricing.
In fact, the only thing you will typically find is a form for you to fill out so that a well trained, high pressure salesperson can come out to your home with a single goal in mind and that is to get your signature on his air tight contract.
The problem is that because these companies don't post any pricing, in most cases, the sales rep is free to quote you anything he or she wants. Live in a nice neighborhood, better bump up that price. Got a nice home or a nice car in the driveway, better bump up that price.
With the advent of satellite imagery and aerial photography, there is absolutely no reason why a salesman needs to visit your home. An installation contractor yes, a salesman, absolutely not. Everything including a price quote can be discussed in a few minutes over the phone, all without the high pressure tactics of an in home salesperson.
In reality, the only person that would need to your home to perform an evaluation is a licensed contractor and that is after you have been provided with an acceptable price quote and you’ve made your decision to proceed. Click Here To Read An Excellent Article And Draw Your Own Conclusions.
2. "$0 Down Solar Lease/PPA" What's the catch ? Well, there are several, but the three biggest catches with these types of deals are the following:
A. Price: You'll pay a much higher price for these $0 down lease/PPA systems than had you purchased the system with a $0 down loan instead.
B. Payment Escalator: Nearly all of these $0 down solar leasse/PPA deals will include an annual payment escalator that will raise your monthly payment by up to 2.9% per year, every year for 20 years. So if your utility company's rates stay flat for a few years or the utility company is ever mandated to lower their rates, then you could end up paying more for your electricity than had you never signed that 20 lease/PPA contract to begin with.
C. Tax credit and tax deductions: When you sign that solar lease/PPA contract, you're basically handing over the ability to collect the 30% federal tax credit that could be worth more than $7,000 on a typical installed system to the leasig company. You also will not be able to write off any interest on your payments on a lease or PPA.
Many $0 down loans do offer tax deductible interest. Lease and PPAs do not offer tax deductible interest. Learn More
3. "The Most Powerful Solar Module In The Universe" You may run into solar salesmen that will make this claim. The problem for most consumers is that this claim is not completely understood. We have talked to some consumers who believed that they would somehow receive substantially more power from solar panels that are sold by companies that make this claim.
The truth is that a 327 watt solar panel is a 327 watt solar panel. You will never get more power from a solar panel than what it is rated to produce. What these salespeople are actually talking about is efficiency. And the higher the efficiency the smaller the solar panel for the same wattage rating.
The question is, if you have plenty of roof space available, why would you pay more for the privilege of having smaller solar panels on your roof. Buying an inverter that offers higher efficiency is critical to your return on investment. Paying more for a higher efficiency solar panel is nearly meaningless when it comes to your return. In fact if you pay more for a higher efficiency solar panel then you've effectively extended the time that it will take before you see a return on your investment. If you can get a competitive price for a higher efficiency solar panel then by all means you should buy that panel. On the other hand if you're being quoted a higher price per watt, steer clear.
4. "Free Solar Panels" I'm sure you've heard the old saying that "Nothing in life is free" This is even more true when it comes to solar panels. Oh, you may get a "nothing down" offer, but you can rest assured that the solar lease and PPA companies will more than make up for that nothing down offer many times over in the end.
In fact, if you simply add up your payments over the 20 year term of a solar lease or PPA, you'll typically find that you'll be paying nearly three times more for that $0 down leased system when compared to buying the system outright. In fact, with a $0 down solar lease or PPA, you'll pay so much more to rent that system when compared to a purchase, that it will actually be you who will be paying for your own repairs, monitoring and insurance, many, many times over, not the leasing company.
5. "Best Deals On Solar Panels" You'll find ads like these all over the Internet and of course you want the best deal on solar panels but beware. Before you fill out that online solar quote form, make absolutely sure that you're dealing directly with a real solar dealer and not some solar lead generating business.
The problem with a solar lead generating business is that your personal information will be sold over and over again and there's no guaranty that your personal information won't be sold to just anyone.
To confirm that you're dealing with a real solar dealer always check for a physical address that you can visit. Is there a phone number and fax number listed on the website that you can call ? Are there products and prices posted on the website. Is the domain name privately registered ? Does the website consist of only a quote request form and a few gibberish solar information pages ?
6. "We'll Get One Of Our Representatives Right Out To Evaluate Your Home." We touched on this in the beginning of our guide but we wanted to revisit the issue of dealing with an in-home solar salesperson.
Rule number one: Before speaking to any salesperson, educate yourself on how to identify the important criteria for choosing the highest performance solar products at the best price. Here's a link to an excellent buyer's guide that can easily save you tens of thousands of dollars over the life of your solar system. This buyer's guide can save you thousands no matter who you buy your solar system from.
Rule number two: No matter how hard your salesperson tries to convince you that his or her deal is best, Never ever sign a contract with any solar salesperson until you've followed rule number one and have had a chance to compare system performance specifications. Remember in-home solar sales people are a tough breed and they will say almost anything to get you to sign their contract. Take your time and read through and make absolutely sure you understand what you're buying. Again, never sign any contract until you've received at least three quotes and never sign anything on the first appointment. Make your sales rep work for his or her commission.
7. "We've Been In The Solar Business For Over Twenty Years." Maybe they've been in business for over twenty years but odds are that they haven't been in the solar business for twenty years. Lately, this seems to be a common claim among new solar dealers. The fact is that over 97% of the solar dealers in existence today have less than 2 years of experience in the solar field. Be sure to check your dealer's claim with government sources as well as the Better Business Bureau. If a dealer will lie to you about their time in business, you can be sure that time in business won't be the only thing that they will lie about.
8. "AC Watts DC Watts." We recently heard a story about a dealer who would sign contracts with his customer indicating on the contract that the customer's system was rated in AC Watts which was in reality the DC Watts rating of the system. DC Watts will always be higher than the AC Watts rating of any system. The story goes that after signing contracts, he would go back to his office and draw up a new contract reversing the system rating so that the DC Watts rating now reflected the AC watts rating effectively giving the customer a smaller system than what he paid for. Most consumers fail to educate themselves before buying and can easily fall prey to these types of practices. The lesson here is know exactly what you're buying. If you don't understand the difference between DC Watts and AC Watts, then you shouldn't be buying a solar system until you do understand the difference.
9. "Rack Are Racks." We've discovered a disturbing trend where many dealers are providing solar system quotes without identifying the brand or model of the solar panel mounting racks that are included in the system. Solar panel mounting racks come in all different grades from those that are manufactured from the thinnest available aluminum that barely meets engineering requirements that don't even come with a factory warranty to heavier duty mounting racks that are made from much thicker aluminum that exceed requirements and come with 10 year warranties. If you've been provided with a quote for a solar system with no mention of the brand or model of the racking that is included with your system, run, don't walk to the nearest exit.