Greed = High Pressure Sales Tactics
In recent years, the residential solar energy industry has experienced a surge in popularity as more and more homeowners look to reduce their carbon footprint and take advantage of government incentives. However, with this growth has come an unfortunate side effect: Greed, which brings high pressure sales tactics and corruption to the industry we all have grown to love.
The issue of corruption in the residential solar energy industry is not a new one. For years, there have been reports of salespeople using deceptive tactics to pressure homeowners into signing contracts for solar panel installations. Additionally, these companies often use aggressive door-to-door sales tactics, which makes it difficult for homeowners to do proper research and educate themselves.
Some salespeople have been known to make false promises about the cost savings and environmental benefits of solar panels, and others have used high-pressure tactics to force homeowners into making a decision on the spot. In some cases, these tactics have resulted in homeowners signing contracts that they later regret and are impossible to get out of without shelling out a large sum of money.
One of the biggest challenges in addressing this issue is that many of the companies engaging in these practices are fly-by-night operations that tend to “rebate hop” from one hot market to the next. They often use aggressive marketing tactics to target vulnerable populations, such as the elderly and low-income families, who may not fully understand the costs and benefits of solar panels. Nothing is free, and no, the government is not giving away free solar for a limited time.
These issues compound when you look at the road ahead. The fly-by-night companies will not be around in 20 years, they will be lucky to make it another 2-3 years. This brings up the question, who will be in charge of servicing all of these abandoned systems for years to come? We, along with many installers across the country, are already seeing these problems soar and it will only get worse as more solar is installed on homes across America.
Despite these challenges, there are steps that homeowners can take to protect themselves from high-pressure sales tactics and corruption in the residential solar energy industry. For starters, it is important to do your research before making any decisions about solar panels. This includes learning about the different types of solar panels and the costs associated with installation, as well as checking out different companies and their reputations.
Another important step is never to sign a contract or make a payment on the spot. Believe it or not, there are more ways to finance a solar system than using the quick approval loans that are being offered throughout the solar industry. We will dig into this topic in another HIVE N-OOZE blog post soon.
We would love to hear your thoughts when it comes to the Dark-side of Residential Solar Sales and start a discussion of how we can combat this moving forward. Until next time, we hope you THRIVE with the HIVE.