Industry Update: Review Key Contract Terms When Handling Unresponsive Solar Companies
June 15, 2026 No Comments
Read More » Your Fresno PGE bill in summer is brutal — $300, $400, even $500 a month during heat waves. The solar contract you signed was supposed to fix that. But with NEM 3.0 cutting export credits 75% after April 15, 2023, and PGE rate hikes stacking up year after year, the savings the salesperson described don’t match what you’re paying. Or you signed a contract you didn’t fully understand because the sales pitch happened in Spanish and the contract was in English.
You are not alone — and you may not be stuck. California has the strongest residential solar consumer protection framework in the country, including the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act (CLRA, Civil Code §1750+), Business and Professions Code §17200 (Unfair Competition Law), SB 784 (effective January 1, 2026, extending cancellation periods to 5 days / 7 days for seniors), and Civil Code §1632 (contract language requirements). Submit your information below for a free intake — under 60 seconds. A Fresno specialist will collect the facts so qualified legal counsel may review whether you may be eligible for a legal review.
Takes under 60 seconds. Speak to a Henderson specialist today.
Call: 888-918-2083
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Fresno and the Central Valley have some of the most challenging summer electricity bills in California. Triple-digit summer temperatures that routinely exceed 105°F push PGE residential bills well above $300/month for many Fresno homeowners during peak season. That bill pressure is exactly why Fresno became a heavily canvassed door-to-door solar market — and why thousands of working-class and Latino Fresno families signed solar contracts between 2017 and 2023. After the April 15, 2023 shift from NEM 2.0 to NEM 3.0, Fresno PGE customers saw export credits drop roughly 75%. The April 15, 2026 NEM 2.0 grandfathering deadline has now passed. Fresno homeowners who signed contracts in Spanish-speaking communities — Roosevelt, El Dorado Park, parts of Pinedale and West Fresno — are specifically protected by California Civil Code §1632, which requires that contracts negotiated primarily in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or Korean must be translated into the same language. Failure to comply is a basis for rescission.
Fresno is served by PG&E. PG&E’s Central Valley territory faces some of the highest summer demand in the state, and PG&E’s tiered and time-of-use rate plans can produce summer peak rates well above $0.40/kWh. Under NEM 3.0, PG&E credits exported solar at Avoided Cost Calculator values — typically far below the retail rate the customer pays for consumption. The economic gap between sales-claim solar savings and actual NEM 3.0 economics is especially severe in markets like Fresno where peak summer bills are high and a homeowner’s expectation of being made whole by solar exports is built into the contract math.
The patterns below come up repeatedly in intakes from Fresno homeowners. None of these alone guarantees that a contract qualifies for review — they are simply the facts most often described.
The salesperson promised the system would zero out the PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric) bill, or generate a meaningful credit. After NEM 3.0’s April 15, 2023 transition, export credits dropped
approximately 75% — and any Fresno homeowner whose system was sold on retail-rate net metering math but ended up under the Solar Billing Plan now sees a meaningful gap between projected and actual savings.
Many Fresno homeowners who signed contracts between 2020 and 2023 expected to be grandfathered into NEM 2.0 for 20 years. To retain NEM 2.0 status, the system had to receive Permission to Operate (PTO) by April 15, 2026. Permitting delays, inspection backlogs, interconnection queue issues, or installer non-performance pushed some systems past the deadline. Those systems are now on NEM 3.0 — at meaningfully lower export economics than what was sold.
A salesperson said the homeowner would receive a federal tax credit (often quoted at 26% or 30% of system cost). The homeowner then learned at tax time that they did not qualify — for example, because they did not have sufficient federal tax liability, or because the system was leased (in which case the credit goes to the lessor). Misrepresenting tax credits is a basis for action under the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act (CLRA, Civil Code §1750+).
California Civil Code §1632 requires that if the negotiation of a sale was conducted primarily in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or Korean, the contract must be provided in that same
language before signing. Many Fresno solar contracts were sold to Spanish-speaking homeowners with English-only contracts. When §1632 is violated, the buyer has a right of rescission.
Every California solar installer must be licensed by the Contractors State License Board (CSLB). The CSLB license must be the correct classification (typically a C-46 Solar Contractor
or C-10 Electrical Contractor). Contracts performed by unlicensed contractors are generally not enforceable under California Business & Professions Code §7031. Fresno homeowners can verify any contractor’s license at cslb.ca.gov.
Production estimates given at the point of sale do not match what the system has actually generated over time. Heat, smoke, fog, shading, or roof orientation issues that weren’t disclosed during the sale may have always made the production estimate unreachable. When the gap between sales-claim production and actual production is significant and persistent, that may be reviewable.
A Fresno homeowner sells the home and the buyer refuses to assume the solar lease or PPA. The deal stalls or falls through. Title companies sometimes flag UCC-1 financing statements filed in connection with the solar transaction — these are filed against the solar equipment, not against the home, but they can complicate sale and refinance transactions.
The homeowner signed at the kitchen table after a long pitch. The salesperson did not adequately explain the right of cancellation under California Civil Code §1689.5–1689.7. Under SB 784, effective January 1, 2026, the cancellation period for home solicitation sales was extended from 3 business days to 5 business days (and from 5 to 7 business days for buyers age 65 or older). When the required cancellation disclosures were defective, the period may not have started running.
California requires solar providers to give every prospective customer the CPUC Solar Consumer Protection Guide and collect the customer’s signature on it before installation. Failure to provide the Guide, or providing it in a language different from the one the sale was conducted in, is a compliance violation. Fresno homeowners can check whether they were given a properly signed Guide.
Fresno summers regularly exceed 105°F, with rooftop surface temperatures often above 150°F. Solar panels lose efficiency in extreme heat — derating can reduce production by 15-25% during the hottest months. A Fresno system sold on rated capacity may always have produced meaningfully less in real Central Valley conditions. Wildfire smoke from the Sierra Nevada also reduces production for weeks at a time in summer and early fall. Persistent production shortfall from sales-claim estimates may be relevant to a review of how the system was sold.
California has the country’s most extensive consumer protection framework for residential solar. None of these laws guarantees a contract will be cancelled — eligibility depends on the facts. A qualified attorney reviews how these laws may interact with a Fresno homeowner’s specific documentation.
Prohibits any unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent business practice. Provides a separate cause of action that overlaps with the CLRA. Remedies include restitution and injunctive relief. UCL claims have a 4-year statute of limitations.
Prohibits unfair and deceptive consumer practices. Allows actual damages, punitive damages, attorney’s fees, and equitable relief including contract rescission. §1770 lists 28 specific prohibited practices including misrepresenting characteristics of goods or services, advertising goods with intent not to sell them as advertised, and inserting unconscionable contract provisions. §1782 requires a 30-day pre-suit notice before damages may be claimed.
Extends California’s home solicitation cancellation period from 3 business days to 5 business days for buyers under age 65, and from 5 business days to 7 business days for buyers age 65 or older. SB 784 also adds disclosure requirements for home improvement and solar financing transactions and imposes new requirements on financing sources for contractor and dealer oversight.
If the negotiation of a sale was conducted primarily in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or Korean, the contract must be translated into that same language before signing. Failure to comply gives the buyer a right of rescission. This protection applies to door-to-door solar sales.
Every California solar installer must be licensed by the Contractors State License Board. Typical required classifications are C-46 (Solar) or C-10 (Electrical). Contracts performed by unlicensed
contractors are generally not enforceable. License status can be verified at cslb.ca.gov.started running.
The California Public Utilities Commission requires solar providers to give every prospective customer the Solar Consumer Protection Guide (Version 4, published 2025) and collect the customer’s signature on it before the system is interconnected. The Guide must be provided in the language in which the customer was initially contacted. Failure to comply is a compliance violation.
Federal law requiring lenders to disclose APR, finance charges, and payment terms. For certain home-secured loans, TILA provides a three-day right of rescission. Whether TILA applies to a specific financed solar transaction depends on how the loan was structured.
The homeowner submits the basic intake form on this page or calls 888-918-2083. No payment, no obligation, no commitment. The intake simply collects the basic facts of the situation.
The homeowner provides their solar contract, any finance or lease agreement, recent FPL bills, sales materials they still have (brochures, text messages, emails, recordings of the sales conversation if any), and any prior communications with the installer or finance company..
Documentation collected during intake may be reviewed by Consumer Advocacy Law Group, the independent law firm partner. SCRC does not perform legal analysis. The law firm decides whether the facts may be a potential fit for a legal review.
If a legal review path is offered, the homeowner is presented with the fixed-fee structure in writing before any decision. The homeowner decides whether to engage. There is no obligation at any prior step.
The decision to stop making payments on a solar lease, loan, or PPA must only be considered under the advice and representation of a qualified attorney. Stopping payments on your own —
before any legal review path is in place — can create additional problems, including default proceedings and credit-reporting issues. SCRC does not advise, suggest, or sanction the payment
or non-payment of any financial obligations.
SCRC does not charge for the intake itself. If a law firm accepts the matter, the homeowner enters a fixed-fee engagement directly with the firm. The fee is disclosed up front before the homeowner agrees to anything. The fixed-fee model means the homeowner knows the full legal cost in advance — unlike hourly billing (unpredictable) or contingency (percentage of recovery).
Take this intake quiz to see whether your situation may qualify for legal review.
Possibly. California has multiple legal avenues a homeowner may have for cancellation, depending on the facts. The right of cancellation for home solicitation sales under California Civil Code §1689.5–1689.7 was extended by SB 784 (effective January 1, 2026) to 5 business days for buyers under 65 and 7 business days for buyers age 65 or older. Beyond the cancellation window, contracts may be voidable if the seller violated California consumer protection laws — including the Consumers Legal Remedies Act (Civil Code §1750+), Business & Professions Code §17200 (Unfair Competition Law), Civil Code §1632 (language requirements), or CPUC solar consumer protection rules. A qualified attorney may review the homeowner’s documentation to determine whether any of these may apply.
NEM 3.0 (officially called the Net Billing Tariff or NBT) is California’s net metering policy that took effect April 15, 2023 for PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E customers. Under NEM 3.0, exported solar energy is credited at California Avoided Cost Calculator values — typically $0.05–$0.08/kWh — rather than the retail rate (~$0.30/kWh) used under NEM 2.0. The result is
approximately a 75% reduction in export compensation. A Fresno solar contract sold on retail- rate net metering math but now billed under NEM 3.0 may produce meaningfully less savings than what was projected at the point of sale.
April 15, 2026 was the final deadline for solar systems that had submitted complete interconnection applications before April 14, 2023 to receive Permission to Operate (PTO) and retain NEM 2.0 grandfathering for 20 years. Systems that did not reach PTO by that date are now subject to NEM 3.0 economics — even if the contract was signed years earlier. Fresno homeowners whose installers delayed installation, permitting, inspection, or interconnection may have lost the NEM 2.0 grandfathering they were sold. A qualified attorney may review whether installer non-performance leading to a missed grandfathering deadline may be a potential basis for relief.
The California Consumers Legal Remedies Act (CLRA, Civil Code §1750 et seq.) prohibits a list of specific unfair or deceptive practices including misrepresenting the characteristics of goods or services, representing that goods have characteristics they do not have, and advertising goods with intent not to sell them as advertised. The CLRA allows actual damages, punitive damages, attorney’s fees, and equitable relief including contract rescission. Civil Code §1782 requires a 30-day pre-suit notice for damages claims. Whether the CLRA applies to a specific Fresno solar contract is fact-specific.
A bill that went up instead of down is the most common reason Fresno homeowners contact us. By itself, a higher bill does not automatically establish anything legally. But it is often a sign that what was represented during the sale — production estimates, savings claims, net metering math, escalator clauses — may not match what the contract actually says or what the system actually delivers. A qualified attorney may review the gap between the sales claim, the contract documents, and the actual performance to determine whether that gap may be reviewable under California consumer protection law.
Yes — California Civil Code §1632 specifically requires that contracts negotiated primarily in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or Korean must be translated into that same language before signing. If the sales pitch was in Spanish but the contract was English-only, the homeowner generally has a right of rescission. This protection applies to door-to-door solar
sales. Fresno homeowners who experienced this scenario should preserve any sales materials, recordings, or witnesses to the language used during the sale.
Every California solar installer must be licensed by the Contractors State License Board (CSLB), typically as a C-46 Solar Contractor or C-10 Electrical Contractor. Contracts performed by unlicensed contractors are generally not enforceable under California Business & Professions Code §7031. Fresno homeowners can verify any contractor’s license status at cslb.ca.gov. If the installer was unlicensed, improperly licensed, or had their license suspended, that may be a basis for legal review.
UCC-1 financing statements are sometimes filed by solar companies or finance companies in connection with a solar transaction. UCC-1 liens are filed against the solar equipment, not against the home itself. In practice, however, they can complicate a home sale because title companies and mortgage lenders sometimes raise concerns. Many Fresno homeowners contact us specifically because a UCC-1 surfaced during a sale or refinance and they want documentation reviewed by qualified legal counsel before the closing date.
No — and you should not stop payments on your own. Continuing to make payments is generally the safest course of action until a qualified California-licensed attorney has reviewed the contract and provided specific advice. Stopping payments without legal advice may result in default, collection activity, and credit consequences that can complicate any case the homeowner is trying to bring. Decisions about payments are made later, with attorney guidance, only if the case moves forward.
The initial intake is free. If a legal review path is offered after documentation is reviewed, the homeowner is presented with a fixed-fee structure in writing before they decide whether to
engage with the law firm. The fixed fee is disclosed in full up front. No hourly billing, no contingency.
Takes under 60 seconds. Speak to a Jacksonville specialist today.
Call: 888-918-2083
BBB A+ Rated • Fixed Fee • Partnered with Consumer Advocacy Law Group
