Over the last year the Nevada State Contractors Board has seen a significant increase in the number of solar complaints being filed by homeowners, and a large number of these complaints appear to be due to scams.
A lot of these complaints are misleading sales tactics to mostly seniors and other vulnerable community members, including those who speak little English. They often involve promising rebates, government incentives, and elimination of power bill.
"When they're sold a solar system, they will normally be told that possibly that they can get rid of their entire energy bill, their monthly charges from NV Energy which is not true you're going to get a bill anyway," said Glen Hughes from the Nevada State Contractors Board.
Hughes said that another tactic they use is convincing you that you can finance these solar systems: "You can actually sign a contract where you can either own, or lease, or buy back your power from the offer that the salesperson has given you."
He tells us if you're feeling bombarded with persistent cold calls, emails, and even door knocks that are all pitching solar, it's best to trust your gut instinct.
"We promote that you use your own gut intuition. Are you being taken advantage of? I mean if it sounds too good to be true it possibly is."
The board also encourages neighbors to make sure that the salesperson is a licensed contractor.
"There's ways to call us and an actual investigator or someone in licensing to check for the license if it's in good standing and active," Hughes said.
While there are over 2,000 electrical contractors licensed in C-2 in Nevada, there are much fewer in solar. "And there are only 19, what we call, c-2g classification that are strictly solar contractors."
For more information about these scams and sales tactics you can click here.
