You thought you were doing the right thing to help fight climate change by deciding to upgrade your home energy system with solar panels. You may have reached out to one of the many new companies selling solar panels and installation services in Houston. While you were initially pleased to hear of the direct benefits that come with installing solar panels, many of these benefits may have been based on misrepresentations.

Dishonest companies in the Houston area have made false claims about their solar products and services. You might have lost thousands of dollars based on a solar panel company’s misrepresentation. If so, you should call an experienced Houston solar panel lawyer to advocate on your behalf in a legal claim.

Misrepresentation in Solar Panel Sales

Solar panel companies may promise many benefits for buying their products, including that:

  • They will facilitate immediate savings on your energy bill
  • Your local power authority will buy back excess power from you
  • You will receive various state and federal tax benefits as a result of installing solar panels
  • The panels will not cause roof damage
  • The solar company will provide good customer service
  • You are given a ‘preferred’ interest rate that will save you money when paying on credit

Many times, these promises are entirely false, and sales reps are fraudulently taking advantage of consumers.

Proving Fraud

Per Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 27.01, the following is required to prove fraud in a solar panel case in Texas:

  • A party made a claim (such as the above claims about solar panels)
  • This claim was false
  • The party who made the false representation (such as the solar panel company) acted knowingly or recklessly
  • The party intended to influence you to act or not act in some way based upon this claim (such as buy goods and services)
  • You justifiably relied on their claim, which caused your losses (typically economic and property damages)

Under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (Texas Business and Commerce Code 17.46(b)), the defendant could be liable for up to treble damages, meaning up to triple the amount of actual damages in the case. An experienced solar panel attorney in Houston can assist in pursuing a claim under this act.

Protecting Consumers From Fraud Involving Solar Panels

Homeowners who have not been scammed yet would do well to look out for some of the signs they might be dealing with a dishonest solar panel company. Typically, these scams begin with a cold call and then a home visit to take measurements and calculate costs. The misrepresentations about benefits are made to the customer orally so that there is no record of the fraudulent claims, and then the homeowner is asked to sign a contract and pay on the spot.

Asking for all claims from a solar panel company to be provided in writing can help protect against fraudulent sales in Houston. Take some time and do some research into the veracity of the claims any sales rep is making. An experienced solar panel attorney in Houston can help if it is too late to take precautions and time to pursue damages.

Call a Houston Solar Panel Attorney Today

We are all doing our part to help protect our planet from the effects of global warming and climate change. If your honest environmental efforts were taken advantage of by an unscrupulous solar panel company, call a talented Houston solar panel lawyer to pursue a claim and recover financial damages.