Whether you leased or bought solar panels sometimes you might wonder if it is possible to get rid of them, in this article I am going to share with you, how to get out of a solar panel contract.
Can I Just Cancel My Solar Panel Contract?
No, you can not just cancel your solar panel contract, when you signed the contract you agreed to a long-term partnership with that solar company and they are financial obligations related to it.
You need to do this in the right way and in the best way to do it is first to find someone who knows the law and help you to read the solar panel contract and figure out how you can get out of it.
You are best advised to have an attorney review the contract and the representations made by the salesman to see if you have a claim under the law.
Then, a demand letter requesting termination of the contract and removal of the financing statement can be sent to the solar panel company.
3 Reasons you might need to get out of your solar contract
There are many reasons why you might need to get out of your solar panel contract, but in my experience, these are the 3 most common reasons why people change their minds when it comes to solar panels.
Economics
You just bought or leased solar panels to your roof, and suddenly you lost your job or the business is not going well and you do not have the economics to pay for it.
Sometimes you have the money to pay for it but you figured out that the solar company lied to you, you still have to pay a lot of money in terms of the electricity bill, and also you have to pay for the solar lease.
In any of these situations, you might decide it is best for you to get out with the solar panel contract.
Moving
Another reason why people decide to cancel their solar panel contracts is that they have to move just after installing you need to move to another state or country.
Yes, you can take solar panels with you when you move, that is possible if you own them but if you lease them it can be very complicated. so you will need to get out of that solar panel contract.
Service
Sometimes the service can be bad and you might think it is best for all parties involved if you could just get out of the contract, this could be that the solar company did not size your solar panel system properly or just their service is really bad.
How to Get Out of a Solar Panel Contract?
Before I explain how to get out of a solar panel contract, we need to analyze two possible scenarios, the first scenario is if you want to get out of the contract before the installations and the second scenario is if you want to get out of it after the solar panel installation.
How to get out of a solar panel contract pre-installation
If you haven’t had your solar panel system installed yet, you may still have the option to cancel your lease contract.
Most solar panel companies will offer a short time frame where you can cancel the contract without incurring any penalty.
This time frame may be different from one solar company to another, but you can expect it to be around 30 days after signing a contract.
In addition, most solar panel contracts specify other unexpected circumstances under which cancellations are allowed.
For example, if you sign your contract before a roofing evaluation only to find out you need to re-roof prior to going solar, your leasing agreement should allow you to terminate the contract due to the unforeseen additional expense.
Before signing any solar contract, leasing or otherwise, always read the fine print and be aware of your rights to cancel.
How to get out of a solar panel contract post-installation
If you have solar panels installed on your roof it is very difficult to get out of the contract. Most solar panel contracts are difficult to cancel without legal action.
The three typical ways to get out of a solar lease are to:
- Solar contract buyout
- Purchase the solar PV system in its entirety at market price
- Transfer your solar panel contract
Solar contract buyout
If you lease the solar panel or you have a payment settlement plan for your solar panels.
The first option is to buy out the remaining part of the solar panel contract or keep making monthly payments.
Most solar panel companies will let you buy the solar lease after 5 to 7 years of using the solar panels.
Purchase the solar PV system
Some companies will allow you to purchase the solar panel system in its entirety marketplace value, if your finances allow it, for me this is the best option.
Transfer your solar contract
If you are moving and leaving the house, another option is to transfer your solar panel contract to someone else.
You can transfer the solar panel contract to someone else, this happens for example if you sell the house. This is the hardest part of getting out of the solar lease agreement.
Conclusion
That is it, that is how to get out of a solar panel contract, my advice is that you need to read the solar contract including the small letters.
You can do it yourself or have an attorney review the contract and the representations made by the salesman to see if you have a claim under the law.
The most common way to terminate a contract, it’s just to negotiate the termination. If you want to get out of a contract, you must contact the other party involved and you negotiate an end date for that contract.
There may be a fee to pay for cancellation. You might want to offer some type of consideration to cancel.