Several state attorneys general have launched initiatives to protect consumers against shady solar panel installers. It’s a widespread problem as many states encourage rooftop photovoltaic panels and many home improvement contractors are offering to install the panels.
Among the most active AGs is Minnesota’s Keith Ellison, who has been cracking down on solar scammers since last March. Most recently (July 17), Ellison banned Kris Sipe and Trevor Sumner, co-founders of Sun Badger, from doing business in the Land of 10,000 lakes. Ellison said, “Notably, prior to founding Sun Badger, Sipe and Sumner were employees of Able Energy, a company that swindled over $1 million from consumers by charging them for work that was never completed.”
Ellison also put the kibosh on EnergyBillCruncher and Prospect Bacon, two lead generators that advertised on Facebook and elsewhere, then sold consumer data to local solar installers. He alleged that both companies “published advertisements that contained factually-incorrect statements intended to entice consumers into providing their information to solar installers and, eventually, buying a residential solar system.” The companies may not “make further misrepresentations in advertising in Minnesota.”
In February, Ellison won $85,000 in restitution for community solar customers that were charged unlawful early termination fees. In March, he “filed a lawsuit against the four market-leading, solar lending companies doing business in Minnesota for deceiving customers into taking out loans based on the companies’ false promises of low interest and disguised hidden fees that increased the costs to borrowers by between 15-30%.”
Before being elected attorney general in 2018, Ellison served six terms as a Democratic member of Congress.
In Connecticut, AG William Tong July 19 sued “SunRun Inc., SunRun Installation Services, Bright Planet Solar, Inc., Elevate Solar Solutions LLC and salespeople Dakota Grumet and Sierra Howes alleging deceptive, unfair and otherwise unlawful sales of solar panel systems, including locking consumers into long-term contracts without consent by various means, including impersonating consumers, and installing non-functional systems.”
Sunrun claims it is “the nation’s #1 home solar and battery installer.” Tong said, “SunRun, Bright Planet, and Elevate locked Connecticut homeowners into long-term solar panel contracts without their full and informed consent, and failed to timely deliver working systems. The complaints we have seen—including forged signatures, impersonations of consumers, non-permitted work, and non-functioning systems—are beyond shocking. These companies had an opportunity to make it right, to end these fraudulent leases, and remove these unwanted solar panels. We will aggressively pursue these companies in court to make these homeowners whole and to stop these abusive practices.”
Last November, Rhode Island AG Peter Neronha charged “Smart Green Solar, LLC (Smart Green) and its CEO Jasjit Gotra for violating the Rhode Island Deceptive Trade Practice Act (DTPA) by engaging in a pattern of unfair and deceptive trade practices targeting Rhode Island consumers of residential solar panels.”
The filing supplemented a June 2023 complaint that “Smart Green engaged in a pattern of deceptive and unfair trade practices as they went door-to-door, making unsolicited sales pitches for residential solar panel systems in Rhode Island. The Attorney General sought a court order requiring Smart Green to stop misleading customers, provide paper contracts to customers immediately, and pay restitution to injured customers.”
Since then, Neronha said, his office “received an influx of new information from employees and consumers; information which supported and built upon our allegations. Simply put, we continue to believe that the defendants deceived and took financial advantage of Rhode Islanders who wanted to support our state’s clean energy transition.”
In Florida last November, AG Ashley Moody took action against a Tampa company and its founders for “scamming hundreds of consumers, including seniors, persons with disabilities and veterans. “MC Solar and Roofing, and owners, Armando Almirall, Raman Chopra, and Michael Crowder,” she said, “used a variety of sales forces, misrepresentations and finance companies to induce consumers into entering expensive residential solar agreements. After securing the financing, the defendants then paid themselves without completing installations, and in some cases, even damaged consumers’ homes.”
–Kennedy Maize