Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, and old contracts land on my desk far more often than fresh ones. The signed pages still name your payments, your term, the owner of the system, and the rule that applies when a part fails. I can tell you whether the written deal matches the pitch you heard, though what you can do about a gap depends on the terms and on your state.

Send the signed agreement, the quote you saw before signing, any financing paperwork, permits and install records, a few recent utility statements, and your messages with the sales rep. Photos of the roof and the equipment help me more than people expect. If a piece is missing, the company that sold you the system will usually mail a copy when you ask for it.

Nothing on this site is for sale, and I take no fee for a question sent through the contact form. My purpose is educational, which means helping you understand the file already sitting in your drawer. If your situation needs a licensed professional, I say so plainly instead of quietly billing you for it.

I read the message and write back asking for whichever documents touch the concern. Once those pages are in front of me, I explain the sections that matter and hand you the questions worth raising next. I take no step on your behalf until you ask me to.

A lease or power deal usually means somebody else owns the hardware and you pay for the use or for the power it makes. A loan means the system is yours and you are repaying borrowed money. Ownership decides who claims the incentives, who fixes a broken part, and what happens at closing when you sell, so I settle that question first.

An escalator lifts your payment by a fixed percentage every year the agreement runs. A number that looks harmless on page one turns into something else by the final year, which is why the opening figure tells you very little. I find the clause in the payment section and run the arithmetic out to the end with you.

Most agreements carry a transfer section saying whether your buyer must take it on, whether you can buy it out, and what the finance company has to approve. Those rules swing wildly from one provider to the next. I would rather read it with you months ahead than watch it ambush both sides at the closing table.

Some agreements hold a short cancellation window right after signing, and some states pile protections on top of that. Once the window closes, getting out usually rests on specific terms, on buyout language, or on a dispute process. I promise nobody a cancellation, because that answer lives in your paperwork and in your state.

The usual culprit is an escalator clause lifting the figure on a scheduled date. Other causes include a promo period ending, a loan re amortising after an expected tax credit never got applied, or a plain billing correction. The payment section names which one you are dealing with, and a year of statements normally proves it.

A roof array rarely covers every kilowatt hour a house burns, and most utilities keep charging connection and service fees whatever your panels do. That is how you end up holding two bills instead of one. I put them side by side against the production estimate to show whether the split is ordinary or worth a phone call.

Write down what you remember being told, then send me that alongside the agreement and several recent statements. Sometimes the gap is household usage, shade, or an estimate nobody ever guaranteed in writing. Sometimes the signed terms say something very different from the conversation, and I want that difference written down carefully.

A buyout is what it costs to purchase the system outright or to end a lease early. The agreement normally defines how that figure gets calculated and at which points in the term you may use it. I read the method closely, because the stated formula and the number you get quoted do not always agree on the first request.

Dig out the production estimate you were handed before signing and hold it against monitoring data or meter readings across a full year rather than one bad month. Weather, shade, and season all move that number. If the shortfall survives a whole year, your agreement may hold a production guarantee saying how a gap gets measured and what the provider owes you.

Workmanship cover usually deals with roof penetrations, and it often runs for a different length than the equipment warranty. Photos, dates, and written service requests build the record that carries weight later. Your agreement names the company that owns the repair, and it is frequently not the one that sold you the system.

It is common, especially where an installer has folded or sold its accounts on to somebody else. Keeping every request in writing, with dates and reference numbers, gives you something solid to point at later. The paperwork also shows whether the duty sits with the installer, the finance company, or the manufacturer.

Equipment warranties normally come from manufacturers and often outlive the installer entirely. Workmanship cover may have moved to another firm, and the finance agreement almost always keeps running. Sorting out which obligation sits where is the first useful move, and your own documents usually reveal it.

Neither. I am one person reading paperwork, not a lawyer, a lender, an installer, or a state office, and nothing here is legal or financial advice. What I offer is educational, so you can understand your own file and pick the step that fits your situation.

None at all. Reading an agreement tells you what it says and which options may still be open. It buys you no refund, no cancellation, no repair, and no settlement of any kind. Anyone promising you a guaranteed result deserves a hard look, whoever they happen to be.

I use them only to answer the question you asked me. I do not sell them, rent them, or trade them for marketing. The Privacy Policy sets out what gets collected, how long I keep it, and which choices stay yours at any time.

No. The contact form works perfectly well without one. An account only keeps your saved details and past questions in one place, which some households prefer when a problem drags across several months and several documents.