What should I check before signing a residential solar contract?

What to check before signing

Compare the installer’s license, equipment specifications, cash price, financing cost, payment schedule, warranties, roof work, and projected savings. Get promised changes into the agreement. Use the state licensing-board check before paying a deposit, and check current incentive rules before counting a tax benefit as savings.

When you can cancel

Under 16 CFR 429.0–429.1, a qualifying sale made at your home for $25 or more carries a cancellation deadline of midnight on the third business day after the transaction. Inviting a salesperson to your home does not itself remove that right. Saturday counts; Sundays and federal holidays do not. Covered sales at certain other locations have a $130 threshold.

Exceptions include transactions following negotiations at the seller’s permanent business, specified emergency or requested-repair transactions, and transactions with a separate federal credit rescission right. The FTC’s explanation also distinguishes sales made entirely online, by mail, or by phone. State law can give additional rights. Keep the cancellation form and deadline before signing.

Arizona: sale and lease requirements

Arizona’s 2026 chapter 175, sections 2–3 took effect on September 12, 2026. For qualifying distributed-energy sale or lease agreements, A.R.S. 44-1763 requires a separately acknowledged cancellation provision allowing at least three business days after signing and before installation. This provision does not establish cancellation of a separate loan. Subsection (G) excludes specified transactions that form part of the sale or transfer of the real property.

Before signing an Arizona agreement, check these items against § 44-1763:

• Price and obligations: a signed, dated agreement in at least 10-point type; material blanks can make it voidable until installation. Total cost and applicable fees need separate acknowledgment. Contractor-provided credit has payment disclosures under (A)(5)(c).
• Equipment and warranties: component identification or a production guarantee, with the required warranty disclosures. Battery storage is expressly a major component under (A)(4).
• Savings: the estimate’s utility rate, future-rate assumptions, production, and export-compensation basis under (A)(15). Sales presentations claiming savings must substantiate their calculation under (B).
• Lease payments: recurring payments cannot begin until the utility grants permission to operate and the lessor energizes and interconnects the system under (E).
• Roof costs: the pre-contract acknowledgment under (F) addresses possible roof repairs, removal and reinstallation expenses, and warranty consequences. Under § 44-1762(I), the licensed rooftop installer must first evaluate support, recommend a licensed roofing inspection, and repair damage caused by its installation; structures primarily used for shade are excepted.

South Carolina: two different cancellation routes

Regulation 28-78 covers a consumer’s purchase or lease of a renewable-energy facility for personal, family, or household purposes. It is not limited to an installation-service contract. Identify the facility agreement and keep any separate finance addendum with it; paragraph C(5) requires financing offered by or through the retailer to be a separate addendum complying with applicable law.

A permit or HOA denial does not become installation permission because the regulation offers a contract remedy. Nor should a cancellation of the facility agreement be treated as automatic cancellation of every independent loan or power-purchase document. Identify the parties and obtain written confirmation of each agreement’s status.

If the retailer disputes cancellation or the disclosures, preserve the signed agreement, sales messages, cancellation notice, denial notice, and payments. Paragraph H gives the Department of Consumer Affairs enforcement powers, including orders to return money and court actions seeking rescission or other relief. Those powers do not promise a particular recovery for an individual complaint.

Pennsylvania: check the contractor and written contract

Pennsylvania’s Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act, §§2, 3, and 7, expressly includes qualifying residential solar-system work. The definitions contain transaction and contractor exclusions, including new-home construction and sales of materials without arranged installation; check them before assuming the act covers your agreement.

For covered work, verify the contractor’s registration and obtain the completed written contract. Check the parties, work description and materials, start and completion dates, price and payment terms, known subcontractors, insurance, and rescission notice. Keep a signed copy. These are contractor and contract protections; they do not establish an HOA right to install panels.

Rhode Island: disclosures, cancellation, and remedies

Rhode Island’s Chapter 5-93, effective March 1, 2025, covers qualifying residential solar purchases, leases, and power-purchase agreements. Under §§5-93-2 and 5-93-3, the system must primarily serve on-site household use, be situated on no more than four residential units, and exceed one kilowatt. Leases and power-purchase agreements with payment terms under five years are excluded. Incidental property transfers and a separate financing agreement with a third party that is not also a party to the solar sale, lease, or PPA are also outside this chapter.

Before signing, obtain the standard disclosure and the addendum for your agreement type under §§5-93-6–10. They address price, payment terms, equipment, warranties, savings assumptions, and transfer obligations. Section 6 ties the disclosure requirement to publication of the forms; the Office of Energy Resources identifies May 19, 2025 as the forms’ effective date. A labeled good-faith cost estimate is permitted under §5-93-12, with its basis disclosed.

To cancel, follow §5-93-11 and the supplied notice promptly. Subsection (a) says seven days after entering the agreement. The required notice in (b) says seven business days and specifies mailing by registered or certified mail before midnight of the seventh day after signing, excluding Sundays and holidays without regular mail delivery. Do not assume Saturday is excluded or wait to resolve a disagreement about counting days. Keep the dated agreement, notice, and mailing proof; registered mail with return receipt also documents the cancellation route specified in (c).

If the retailer does not return payments, subsection (c) addresses a nonconforming agreement or cancellation notice and requires return of payments and evidence of indebtedness within five business days, with termination of the related security interest. Its failure-to-return remedy includes treble damages and reasonable attorney fees and costs in a legal proceeding. Separately, §5-93-16 permits a civil action and allows the court to award treble damages, fees, and costs to a prevailing plaintiff. An award is not automatic for every complaint. These contract remedies do not supply permits, HOA consent, or cancellation of a separate loan.

What to do next

1. Compare written offers using the same equipment and financing assumptions.
2. Identify who is responsible for roof damage, future removal, repairs, and transfer when you sell.
3. Read each sale, lease, and loan agreement separately. Confirm which party must receive a cancellation notice.
4. If canceling, use the applicable written-notice instructions before the deadline and keep proof of dispatch and delivery. Do not rely only on a phone conversation with the salesperson.
5. Track HOA approval, permits, and utility permission separately from the contract. Signing or making a payment does not supply those approvals.