False Promises: As States Tackle Residential Solar Complaints, How Companies Can Avoid Problems
Rapidly increasing demand for sustainable energy sources has sparked an explosion of alternative energy companies, especially in the residential solar market. This development has caught both the attention of states' attorneys general and generated several consumer class actions.
In both the regulatory and class contexts, the complaints have typically centered on misrepresentations about the costs and savings benefits afforded by the residential solar power systems for sale and the companies' aggressive sales and marketing tactics in persuading consumers to lease or purchase them. Costs and savings misrepresentations, in particular, have typically spurred the ire of state AGs when solar companies exaggerate their systems' potential to save consumers money, despite financing that may end up costing the consumer more.