The summer months bring sales people out across much of Utah, some of them selling solar panel installations — state officials said the industry causes a disproportionate share of complaints from customers.
When a persuasive solar salesman approached Whit Cook, what he said lined up exactly with what Whit wanted.
“The sales person made a couple promises to me that he didn’t keep,” Cook said.
Among those promises, Cook said the salesman promised he’d receive a certain amount of money back once he completed his taxes.
Cook said that was false.
He was also given assurances that if the grid ever went down, while others may be stuck in darkness, his family would have power.
But when installers arrived: “That’s when they said ‘whoops! our system doesn’t do that,'” Cook said.
His experience is not unique.
“Oh absolutely not. I’ve heard of others who have gone through the same experiences,” Cook said.
The Utah Division of Consumer Protection said they get many complaints specifically about solar companies.
“Definitely more than their fair share,” said the division director, Katie Hass.
KUTV asked the CEO of the Solar Energy Industry Association why this is the case.
“Why do I think it is? I don’t know why. But what I do know is that we are doing a number of things to address it,” said Abigail Ross Hopper.
Some of the reason may come down to money.
The solar industry in Utah is growing extremely fast and is worth billions of dollars. There are also significant government funds and grants available.
“Which means there’s a lot of sales companies and installation companies that want to take advantage of those rebates for people to drive up sales,” Hass said.
Some felt this could lead to some in the industry being willing to bend the truth for a quick buck.
“It attracts a certain type of personality,” Cook said.
UDCP officials said many solar companies in Utah act perfectly ethically, but those that don’t create a huge amount of complaints.
“There are good actors out there, and when there are bad actors in the industry, it harms the industry overall,” Hass said.
SEIA officials said they are pushing for more universal standards for how solar companies operate and information salespeople need to share.
“Any kind of industry that grows rapidly, it’s important sort of for the process to catch up and I think we’re in that phase right now,” Hopper said.
The state warned that less ethical parts of the industry specifically take aim in Utah at those seen as more vulnerable.
“Yes, they have targeted both minority populations and the elderly,” Hass said.
She warned of some focus attempts to sell to those who don’t speak English well or who aren’t good at technology.
Officials warned of salespeople pressuring potential customers within minutes to digitally sign an agreement worth tens of thousands of dollars while a salesperson is speed scrolling through a contract.
“My favorite is when they’re like, ‘this paragraph just says this and this paragraph just says this and this paragraph just says this’,” Hass said. “And I’ve literally stopped them and said – ‘that’s not what this paragraph says!’”
Action to better help consumers may be coming soon.
UDCP officials said it is sharing the issue of this increase in solar complaints with legislators and expects action during the interim session.
As for Cook, he said the company he bought from tried to make it right in some ways, but when it comes to what these unfulfilled promises cost him?
“An additional $22,000 on top of what I’ve already paid,” he said.
He believed there needed to be some kind of accountability.
He said, “I think that solar companies need to look at these high dollar sales values and realize that their people need to have more training than girls going around selling girl scout cookies.”
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