TEXAS, USA — A 6 News viewer was left with questions and not many answers after solar companies kept calling her husband. They claimed solar panels could be installed for free.
A solar panel company in Harker Heights and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) spoke about the supposed offer and explained what people need to know before making the investment.
For Katherine Aufman, who grew up in Central Texas, it all sounded too good to be true.
"They tell you all these wonderful things and how much it's not going to cost you," Aufman said. "'The government has a free program'. I just can't imagine that anything is free. You never know who to believe."
According to the BBB, solar companies claiming they can install solar panels for free is one of the biggest misleading sales tactics.
"Therein lies the marketing pitches trying to get on the hook," Jason Meza with the BBB said. "They're taking information and using it to their advantage and trying to collect a positive front, not returning to do the work or trying to sell a really subpar product and offer."
Meza says the federal tax credit when you put solar on your house is there. You can apply for it when you do your taxes, but not every house will qualify.
"The government is not paying," Clifford Crose, President of Allegiance Solar, said. "It's just a play on words."
Crose also says it's important to look for a reputable installation company that works with you from start to finish. People who are calling or knocking on your door are likely just trying to get your information, so they can sell it to an installation company.
"There are a few big-name companies out there in solar, but they all just subcontract to the lowest bidder that they can find," Crose explained. "What kind of service and quality does the customer really get when the only thing that the big-name company is looking at is who can do it for the cheapest? The best case is when a customer works with a turnkey shop, a company that, from start to finish, handles it."
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What about solar being right for your home?
Some people seem to save a lot. Others regret shelling out money to get solar.
The BBB says solar doesn't belong on every house.
"You really want to go to a solar engineer, a firm that's designed to really detail if your home is in the maximum density for solar light," Meza said. "But also that you can turn around and maximize that and any unsold, you can sell it back to yourself, to your power company, things like that."
If you believe you have been misled when buying solar panels, you can reach out to the BBB. They have what they call a scam tracker, which collects data.
They will pass on the details to the next homeowners who ask them about a company in the future.
"The reality is, solar works," Crose said. "It is cheaper now than it's ever been in history. The issue that we see in the industry today is this big migration to sales-only companies where they'll have people come in from out of state and knock on doors all day long. Their whole goal is to make a sale. It doesn't mean solar is bad. You know, there's some bad people in solar just like in every industry. When done right, solar makes sense."
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