Solar Sales Scams in Florida: What to Watch For Before You Sign

Updated 10.24.2026

Most of this is not a clever new trick. It is an old one: a stranger at the door, a government-sounding name, a monthly payment that hides the real price, and a signature before you have read the loan.

The office changed. The pattern did not.

While Ashley Moody was Attorney General, the office sued several solar companies and published a consumer sheet, Scams at a Glance: The Dark Side of Solar. The lawsuits described patterns, not one bad review:

• MC Solar and Roofing, a Tampa company. The office alleged abandoned contracts, damage to homes, forged applications, and liens, with seniors, people with disabilities, and veterans among the people targeted.
• Vision Solar. The office alleged promised timelines that did not happen, failed inspections, and damage to homes.
• SetUp My Solar. The office alleged misstated savings, equipment, and tax rebates, plus extra work such as water heaters and air conditioning sold without the right licenses.

Those are allegations from the state’s complaints. They are the public record of what the office said these companies did. They are not a reason to assume every solar company is a fraud. They are a reason to treat a kitchen-table close as a high-pressure sale.

In June 2026, WPTV reported that the Attorney General’s office had nearly 750 consumer complaints against three solar companies the station was examining. The office had opened formal investigations into two of them and had active litigation against the third. Seniors vs. Crime, a program tied to that office, said it was taking complaints about solar deals, including systems that stopped working and warranties from companies that no longer exist. That last problem is the what happens when the solar company closes page. A scam and a bankruptcy are not the same thing. Both can leave you with a roof and a payment.

The lines to walk away from

• “We’re with the utility” or “this is a government program.” Duke Energy Florida, Florida Power & Light, and Orlando Utilities Commission do not send door-to-door crews to sign you up for a 25-year loan. Neither does the state. If they flash a badge, a clipboard, or your utility’s logo, ask them to leave and call the utility yourself on the number printed on your bill.
• “The 30 percent federal credit makes this free.” For a system you buy, that credit ended for installations completed after December 31, 2025. The incentives page is the current version. A lease company may still use a business tax credit on its own books. That is not your refund, and it is not a reason to sign tonight.
• “Your payment will be lower than your electric bill.” Ask for the total you will pay, the interest rate, the number of years, and whether the payment rises every year. A low first payment can be a long loan, a lease, or a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) assessment on your tax bill. Those are compared on the financing page. The ordinary version of this pitch, short of fraud, is the sales pitch page.
• “Sign today or the price is gone.” A real quote survives the weekend. Same-day pressure is the tactic, not a feature of the equipment.
• “We’ll throw in a roof, a water heater, or a new air conditioner.” Those trades need their own licenses and permits. Bundling them into a solar contract was part of what the state alleged against SetUp My Solar. If the person on your porch cannot show a license for each trade, do not let them price it.
• A loan application you did not read. Regulators have described cases where income on a financing form did not match the homeowner’s income. Read every page before you sign. If a number is wrong, do not initial it because they are in a hurry.

What the contract is supposed to say

Florida Statute 520.23 covers agreements to sell or lease a home solar system, which the statute calls a distributed energy generation system. The company must give you a separate written statement, in at least 12-point type, that you sign apart from the main contract. Among other things it has to say whether you are buying or leasing. If you are leasing, it has to say, in plain words, that you will lease the system and will not own it. It also has to notify you that you can cancel for at least three business days after you sign.

That three-day notice does not apply to one narrow case: a new-home community that was marketed as a solar community, or a community where the developer used solar to meet the building code. A normal existing house in Orange, Seminole, Osceola, or Lake is not that exception.

The same statement is supposed to include the phone number for the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the state office that licenses contractors. If the packet has no separate disclosure, or the lease is described as a purchase, stop.

The three days, and when they actually apply

People hear “you have three days” and think every signature can be undone with a phone call. It is narrower than that, and it is in writing.

Florida’s solar disclosure. Statute 520.23 requires the agreement itself to tell you about a right to cancel for at least three business days. This is the one aimed at solar, including many sales where you invited the company over.

A true door-to-door sale. Florida Statutes 501.021 through 501.055 cover a home solicitation sale over $25 that the seller started, away from the seller’s own store. You can cancel until midnight of the third business day after the day you sign. Notice can be in person or by mail, and mail counts on the postmark. The contract is supposed to include a block titled “BUYER’S RIGHT TO CANCEL.” This state rule does not cover a sale you requested, and it does not cover a sale at a fair. A company you called, who then sat at your table, may be outside this particular statute.

The federal cooling-off rule. Federal Trade Commission rule 16 C.F.R. Part 429 still gives you until midnight of the third business day to cancel many sales signed somewhere other than the seller’s permanent place of business. At your home the threshold is $25. At a temporary spot, such as a hotel, a fair, or your workplace, it is $130. An invitation does not remove the rule. If you asked them to come and you signed at the kitchen table, this federal rule can still apply even when Florida’s home-solicitation statute does not. The seller is supposed to give you cancellation forms. The rule generally does not apply if you signed at their regular office.

Send the cancellation on paper, to the address in the contract, and keep a copy and the postmark. Do not wait until the last evening. Do not depend on a text. After those three days, getting out is no longer automatic. It becomes a claim about what they said, what they built, or what the loan papers show, and that is a lawyer’s job, not a form letter.

Check the license before the price

Look up the person and the company on myfloridalicense.com before they sit down. Solar work in Florida is a licensed trade. A Certified Solar Contractor, or an electrical contractor whose license covers this work, is what you are looking for. A salesperson with a tablet is not that license. WPTV’s 2026 reporting included door-to-door sellers who did not hold the license the work required. How to read a real quote, including the license line, is the installer guide. The side-by-side sheet is the quote workbook.

If you already signed

1. Find the date you signed and the “BUYER’S RIGHT TO CANCEL” block. If you are still inside three business days, cancel in writing today.
2. If the window has closed, stop discussing it only by phone. Write down what they promised, what the contract says, and what is actually on the roof. Photograph the site if work has started.
3. Pull the permit at your city or county building department. An open permit, or no permit, matters more than the brochure.
4. If a loan, lease, or PACE lien is involved, get the current servicer’s name from the statement before you stop paying. Stopping a real loan because you are angry can create a second problem. The financing page and, if you are selling, buying a house that already has solar, explain why that paper survives the sales rep.
5. File complaints. You do not need a lawyer to start. The Attorney General takes consumer complaints at myfloridalegal.com and at 1-866-966-7226. Licensing complaints go to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. A financing complaint can also go to the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

A missing cancellation notice, a forged application, or a savings claim that was never written down can still matter after day three. It is not a do-it-yourself cancellation. Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act is the state law against deceptive acts. It is a lawyer’s statute, not a button on a website.

Seniors

The Moody-era cases, and the 2026 complaint wave, both describe older homeowners as a target. Two different phone lines get mixed up:

• Seniors vs. Crime is the Attorney General program that takes reports of seniors targeted by contractors. Use it when the issue is the scam itself.
• The Florida Senior Legal Helpline, 1-888-895-7873, is free legal advice for Florida residents age 60 and older, weekdays, with income limits. It is advice and a referral, not a promise that a lawyer will take the case. It is run through Bay Area Legal Services with funding from the Department of Elder Affairs.

If a parent signed and cannot explain whether they own the panels, start with the contract, not with a new company offering to “fix” the first one.

This page is general information, not legal advice. For a live dispute, use the Attorney General’s complaint form and a Florida consumer lawyer who has read your contract.