Solar Exit: every guide we've published
Start with the basics, then go deep. Everything here is researched, sourced, and written to help you decide, not to sell you something.
Act Nows
Cancel a Solar Contract Before Installation
The solar company is counting on your cancellation window running out quietly. Three federal business days, longer in some states, and a contract clause that can outlast both. How to cancel, and how to send a notice they cannot ignore.
LeasesHow to Get Out of a Solar Lease
The leasing company owns the panels, may raise your payment every year, and names its own buyout price. The free routes out first, then the buyout, and what fair market value means when the company being paid does the valuing.
PPAsHow to Get Out of a Solar PPA
A PPA locks you into buying one company's electricity for up to twenty-five years, and the escalator can raise the price of every kilowatt-hour. How to tell a PPA from a lease, and the free routes out before the paid ones.
The DecisionHow to Get Out of a Solar Contract: All Eight Routes, by Contract Type
The solar sales company and its lender wrote this contract to be hard to leave. Eight ways out anyway, in the order that costs you least, each tagged loan, lease or PPA, with what it costs and what disqualifies you. The first four are free.
When It Is Worth ItHiring a Solar Attorney: When It Is Worth It
Solar lenders like to act as if the salesperson's promises are someone else's problem. When you have a real claim, a lawyer can make them answer for it: misrepresentation, hidden dealer fees under state UDAP law, and the Holder Rule notice that reaches the finance company.
At SaleSelling a House With Solar Panels Without Losing the Buyer
Solar contracts were written to follow the house, and they surface at the worst moment: closing. Owned, leased and PPA each behave differently. What a UCC-1 filing does to a title search, why PACE is a different animal, and what to do when the buyer says no.
Before You Pay AnyoneSolar Cancellation Companies Charge for What You Can Do Free
The solar industry trapped you, and now a second wave wants a fee to run the same free routes you can run yourself. What the timeshare exit industry's enforcement record says about how this ends, and the questions to ask before you pay anyone.
Who Owns It NowYour Solar Company Went Bankrupt. Who Owns the Contract Now?
The company that sold you the system is gone, and somebody new still wants your payment. Sunnova sold its assets and Mosaic reorganized around collecting. What survives a solar bankruptcy, what quietly does not, and how to find out who holds your contract now.
By StateSolar Cancellation Laws by State
Your right to cancel is set by law, whatever the salesperson told you. The cooling-off window for a solar contract signed at your home in all 50 states and DC, each row read from the statute itself. Nine states count Saturdays. Ten only reach credit sales. Texas and Alaska give five days.
The MathSolar Dealer Fees: The Markup That Never Reaches Your APR
A dealer fee is a lender markup hidden in your loan principal on top of the system's cash price. The CFPB found they run 10 to 30 percent and can exceed 50. Here is how to find yours and make the lender answer for it.
The MathSolar Lease Buyout: How the Number Is Built
Your lessor's buyout quote is built from what it still expects to collect from you, and the company setting fair market value is the one being paid. How to take the number apart, and when handing the contract to your buyer beats paying it.
The LoanSolar Loan Payoff and Refinance
The lender folded a dealer fee into your principal and may have built in a month-19 payment jump. The fee is already spent. What you can still fight over is the rate, the term, and a reset that a 2026 borrower has no tax credit to fund.
Watch OutSolar Sales Red Flags, Built From the Enforcement Record
Every red flag here is something regulators found or alleged solar sellers and their lenders doing to homeowners, from the CFPB's four risk areas to Michigan's pitch, sign, fund, fail and collect complaint against Climax Solar.
Last ResortWhat Happens If You Stop Paying a Solar Lease or Loan
Solar contracts are written so that when things go wrong, the damage lands on you first. Before you stop paying: credit reporting, acceleration, what a UCC-1 filing does and does not let a lender do, and why PACE is the one that reaches your house.