“Everything they told us was a lie” - How Rooftop Solar Works, or Doesn't

I can't even pretend to be shocked. The Rooftop Solar Industry Could Be On the Verge of Collapse | TIME

Break things and move fast. It sounds good, but the things being broken are people.

Mary Ann Jones, 83, didn’t realize this had happened to her until she received a call last year from GoodLeap, a financial technology company, saying she owed $52,564.28 for a solar panel loan that expires when she’s 106, and costs more than she originally paid for her house.

Of course that isn't how she, and a lot of other people, were sold rooftop solar.

Jesus Hernandez, 53, says a salesman from Southern Solar called him in 2019 with the pitch that installing solar panels could cut his monthly electric bill to as low as $50 a month; Hernandez was paying around $500 a month at the time. Hernandez, a housekeeping supervisor, couldn’t afford the up-front costs, but the salesman said GoodLeap would give him a loan. When the salesman later came to his house in Dallas to close the deal, he also promised that were Hernandez to get panels, the government would write him a solar-subsidy check for $16,000. Hernandez was sold; he agreed to take out a 20-year loan to install about $62,000 worth of solar panels.

After interests and fees, that $62,000 turned out to be more like $90,000. Today, Hernandez pays about $400 a month on the loan. Worse, his electric bill is still in the $500 range, because the panels do not produce the promised electricity.

Mr. Hernandez uttered the statement quoted in the title to this post. He recommends recording the sales pitch, if a solar salesperson comes knocking, so you can prove what they said later, because they told him nothing but BS.

Hat tip to Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony. Daily News Stuff 29 January 2024: Jeepers Edition.

The rooftop solar industry is facing collapse. (Time)

Not because solar panels themselves don't work, but because the industry employs sales tactics that would make a used car remora blush.