How Not to Shop for Solar
Most "solar experts" tell you to shop for solar the way you do for a garage door. This is a terrible way to do it. Nearly all advice on how to shop for a solar, photo-voltaic (PV) system, whether from websites or magazines, is based on the unexamined fallacy that shopping for a PV system is like shopping for other home improvements. They usually advise you to do the following:
1. Research the products yourself, online and in stores.
2. Research vendors, usually online, & get referrals from neighbors/friends.
3. Read warranties and guarantees carefully.
4. Check thoroughly for any available incentives, rebates, and tax savings.
5. Research ways of paying for it: buy, lease, or PPA, with or without a loan.
6. Get multiple quotes; choose best combination of price and quality.
This can work decently for most home improvements, although it frequently doesn't. But it is a truly terrible way to shop for a PV system. Here's why:
1. It is very difficult to research/evaluate solar equipment, esp. panels.
a. Unlike garage doors, PV systems are new. You've never owned one.
b. You know the size garage door to get, but not what size PV system.
c. PV systems are technically complex.
d. You can't trust most information from most manufacturers or dealers.(1)
e. Most info. on PV websites is outdated, misleading, or just plain wrong.
f. Some solar websites are simplistic/condescending toward readers.
g. Others overwhelm you with irrelevant technical jargon and data.
h. You'll be told "all panels are the same" by some "experts."
i. You won't be able to judge what is true or what is important.
2. Researching vendors - both manufacturers and installers
a. Consequences of choosing the wrong vendor can be serious.
b. As a solar novice, you're easy pickings for unscrupulous vendors.
c. It's even harder than researching equipment.
d. Checking out a solar installer is a lot of work - a lot to check.
e. About 600 installers serve any address in an SCE region.(2)
f. Most solar dealers do bad work in many ways.
g. The sales process of most dealers is pushy and misleading.(3)
h. Their personnel are usually poorly trained.
i. Using most solar websites gets you bombarded with sales calls.(4)
j. Installation is often poor: roof leaks and sub-par performance.(5)
k. It's hard to find friends or neighbors with PV systems.
l. Even harder to find people with a good experience getting solar.
m. Review sites (Yelp, Angie's List, solar review sites) are rarely helpful.
n. Some great reviews, some terrible ones, and the rest in between.
3. PV warranties are tricky, confusing, and should not be fully relied on.
4. Incentives & rebates involve tax considerations, which can be complex.
5. Deciding how to acquire and pay for it is very important and very tricky.
a. It can have a bigger effect on your savings than anything else.
b. A PV system is a long-term (up to 50-year) investment.
c. Inflation, utility rate increases, & taxes have huge effect on savings.
d. Solar can have a significant effect on the value of your home.
e. It's more like investing in mutual funds than a home improvement.
f. There are many financial options and combinations of options.
g. You shouldn't trust the vendor or dealer to advise you on these.
h. Vendors and dealers often make much of their profit on the financing.
i. Sales people are rarely financially sophisticated enough to advise you.
6. Multiple quotes can easily make things worse, not better.
a. It looks like apples versus apples, but it's really apples versus turnips.
b. Quotes are often very misleading as to what you're really getting.
c. They rarely give enough information to know how to choose.
d. Some of the information on them is likely to be wrong.
e. It's very difficult to check their accuracy yourself.
f. Multiple quotes lead you to focus on initial price - usually a mistake.
Not many PV-system shoppers know enough about all these issues to know what information they need, how to evaluate it, and how to decide among these choices.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) puts the problem this way:
1. Research the products yourself, online and in stores.
2. Research vendors, usually online, & get referrals from neighbors/friends.
3. Read warranties and guarantees carefully.
4. Check thoroughly for any available incentives, rebates, and tax savings.
5. Research ways of paying for it: buy, lease, or PPA, with or without a loan.
6. Get multiple quotes; choose best combination of price and quality.
This can work decently for most home improvements, although it frequently doesn't. But it is a truly terrible way to shop for a PV system. Here's why:
1. It is very difficult to research/evaluate solar equipment, esp. panels.
a. Unlike garage doors, PV systems are new. You've never owned one.
b. You know the size garage door to get, but not what size PV system.
c. PV systems are technically complex.
d. You can't trust most information from most manufacturers or dealers.(1)
e. Most info. on PV websites is outdated, misleading, or just plain wrong.
f. Some solar websites are simplistic/condescending toward readers.
g. Others overwhelm you with irrelevant technical jargon and data.
h. You'll be told "all panels are the same" by some "experts."
i. You won't be able to judge what is true or what is important.
2. Researching vendors - both manufacturers and installers
a. Consequences of choosing the wrong vendor can be serious.
b. As a solar novice, you're easy pickings for unscrupulous vendors.
c. It's even harder than researching equipment.
d. Checking out a solar installer is a lot of work - a lot to check.
e. About 600 installers serve any address in an SCE region.(2)
f. Most solar dealers do bad work in many ways.
g. The sales process of most dealers is pushy and misleading.(3)
h. Their personnel are usually poorly trained.
i. Using most solar websites gets you bombarded with sales calls.(4)
j. Installation is often poor: roof leaks and sub-par performance.(5)
k. It's hard to find friends or neighbors with PV systems.
l. Even harder to find people with a good experience getting solar.
m. Review sites (Yelp, Angie's List, solar review sites) are rarely helpful.
n. Some great reviews, some terrible ones, and the rest in between.
3. PV warranties are tricky, confusing, and should not be fully relied on.
4. Incentives & rebates involve tax considerations, which can be complex.
5. Deciding how to acquire and pay for it is very important and very tricky.
a. It can have a bigger effect on your savings than anything else.
b. A PV system is a long-term (up to 50-year) investment.
c. Inflation, utility rate increases, & taxes have huge effect on savings.
d. Solar can have a significant effect on the value of your home.
e. It's more like investing in mutual funds than a home improvement.
f. There are many financial options and combinations of options.
g. You shouldn't trust the vendor or dealer to advise you on these.
h. Vendors and dealers often make much of their profit on the financing.
i. Sales people are rarely financially sophisticated enough to advise you.
6. Multiple quotes can easily make things worse, not better.
a. It looks like apples versus apples, but it's really apples versus turnips.
b. Quotes are often very misleading as to what you're really getting.
c. They rarely give enough information to know how to choose.
d. Some of the information on them is likely to be wrong.
e. It's very difficult to check their accuracy yourself.
f. Multiple quotes lead you to focus on initial price - usually a mistake.
Not many PV-system shoppers know enough about all these issues to know what information they need, how to evaluate it, and how to decide among these choices.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) puts the problem this way:
One barrier is the complexity of PV system purchases. Potential PV consumers must weigh many payment and ownership options, as well as physical attributes, including the percentage of electricity load to offset and the use of premium versus standard equipment ... but also to be able to evaluate the tradeoffs associated with different system parameters."(6)
1. “As the Push for Solar Increases, So Do the Scams, Sketchy Sales Tactics,” Orange County Register, Oct. 5, 2015.
2. California Solar Statistics, Find an Active Solar Contractor, accessed July 28, 2016.
3. “Consumer Alert,” PG&E.
4. “As the Push for Solar Increases, So Do the Scams, Sketchy Sales Tactics,” Orange County Register, 10/5/15.
5. Douglas Fishburn, “Solar Panels Could Ruin Your Roof,” 2014 Proceedings, RCI 29th International Convention.
6. "Selecting Solar: Insights into Residential Photovoltaic (PV) Quote Variation," NREL Technical Report Oct. 2015.
Next, please see Solar Websites Classified & Reviewed, because that is where most solar shoppers get their information and advice about solar.
