How to File a Complaint Against a Solar Company

How do you file a complaint against a solar company?

To file a complaint against a solar company, first ask the company in writing for what you want and keep its answer. Then send each complaint where it belongs: the CFPB for a solar loan, your state attorney general for the sale and any contract, your state contractor licensing board for the installer’s work, your utility commission for problems with the utility itself, and the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Complaints are free, several can run at once, and none of them cancels a contract by itself.

Where does each solar complaint go?

The problem	Where to file	What that office does with it
A solar loan: fees, disclosures, payment changes, servicing, credit reporting	CFPB, consumerfinance.gov/complaint or (855) 411-2372	Sends it to the company, which generally responds in 15 days
The sale, the contract, a lease or a PPA	Your state attorney general or consumer protection office (usa.gov/state-consumer)	Can investigate and bring cases
Poor, unfinished or unlicensed installation work	Your state contractor licensing board	Can investigate and discipline the license
The utility: billing, interconnection, metering	Your state utility commission (California’s asks you to try the utility’s customer service first)	Handles complaints against utilities
Fraud, scams, deceptive practices	FTC, ReportFraud.ftc.gov	Uses reports for investigations; doesn’t resolve individual reports
A loan or contract opened in your name	IdentityTheft.gov	Builds an Identity Theft Report and recovery plan
A record of the dispute	Better Business Bureau	Forwards it to the business; not a government agency

Treasury’s consumer advisory lists the FTC, the CFPB and state consumer protection offices, and adds your state’s utility consumer advocate (nasuca.org/members) and nonprofit legal aid (lsc.gov or lawhelp.org). A 2024 CFPB consumer advisory says: “You can submit a complaint to multiple places, and you can also consult an attorney at the same time.”

What should you do before you file?

Ask the company first, in writing, and give it a date to answer. For a system you bought, the FTC’s solar guidance says: “If you have a problem with a system you bought, try to resolve it with the company first.” If you are not satisfied, it says to report the problem to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to your state attorney general. The CFPB’s complaint page asks, “Have you tried reaching out to the company?” On a lease or PPA, Treasury, the CFPB and the FTC jointly encourage consumers who believe they were victims of unfair or deceptive practices to complain “with CFPB, FTC, or their relevant state consumer protection office.”

Send the letter to the installer and, if you have a loan, to the lender. The installer, lender, servicer and warranty provider can be four different companies, and each answers for its own part. California’s contractor board will ask whether you formally notified the contractor of your concerns and says to save a copy of the letter to submit with your complaint.

Where do solar loan complaints go?

To the CFPB. Its form covers “Personal loans like installment, advance, and title loans,” and the CFPB’s 2024 solar advisory told borrowers to file solar loan complaints as installment loans. The CFPB sends the complaint to the company; it says companies generally respond in 15 days, some give a final response in 60 days, and you then have 60 days to give feedback. If another agency “would be better able to assist,” the CFPB says it will send the complaint there and let you know. The CFPB publishes complaints in its public database without information that directly identifies you.

Solar leases and PPAs are not a listed CFPB product, so send those complaints to your attorney general and the FTC.

Which state agencies take solar complaints?

Your attorney general or consumer protection office. The CFPB’s solar advisory says complaints about companies doing business in your area “can be submitted to your state’s attorney general.” Complaints feed investigations: in March 2026, Connecticut’s attorney general announced an investigation of SunStrong Management “following dozens of consumer complaints,” and a $100,000 settlement that Spruce Power 3 agreed to pay after complaints about billing, customer service and warranty issues.

Your contractor licensing board.

• California: the CPUC says the Contractors State License Board (CSLB), “not the CPUC,” regulates solar contractors, and points complaints about poor workmanship, deception or fraud to the CSLB’s solar complaint form. The CSLB addresses violations for up to four years from the act and warns that “The purpose of a CSLB investigation is not to obtain restitution.”
• Arizona: the Registrar of Contractors investigates alleged violations by licensed and unlicensed contractors; complaints against licensed contractors must be filed within two years under A.R.S. 32-1162, which for work other than new construction runs from completion of the project.
• Texas: the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) takes complaints against solar retailers, salespeople and electrical contractors. The state’s solar retailer law covers agreements signed on or after September 1, 2025, and its registration and prohibited-acts sections became enforceable September 1, 2026. After notice, a hearing and a finding of a violation, TDLR can order a covered agreement for the sale or lease of a residential solar system cancelled and a refund of amounts paid, capped at what was paid.

Your utility commission, for utility problems. The CPUC takes informal complaints against a utility “If you cannot resolve the problem after talking with the utility’s customer service.” It sends solar contractor complaints to the CSLB and says the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, “not the CPUC, regulates many financiers in the rooftop solar industry.”

Is the FTC or the BBB worth a complaint?

The FTC collects reports and brings cases, and ReportFraud.ftc.gov says “We can’t resolve your individual report,” and that the FTC uses reports “to investigate and bring cases against fraud, scams, and bad business practices.” File there when you see deception, and file somewhere that forwards complaints to the company too.

The BBB says it “is not a government agency and holds no regulatory power,” and that “We do not take sides, and we cannot force a business to act.” It forwards complaints and asks the business to respond, it doesn’t take complaints against companies that are out of business, and complaint text can be posted publicly, so leave out personal details.

What should a solar complaint include?

1. Your name, the address where the system is installed, and the contract type (cash, loan, lease, PPA or PACE).
2. Every company involved, with account and contract numbers.
3. A short timeline: the sales visit, signing, installation, permission to operate, payment changes, and your written requests.
4. What you were promised and what happened, quoting the proposal or contract where you can.
5. What the company said when you asked, with dates.
6. The specific result you want: a repair, a refund, a corrected loan, a cancelled contract, a credit report correction.
7. Attachments. The CFPB says: “Attach documents that support the facts like account statements and communications with the company.” Send copies, keep originals, and save every confirmation number.

If the loan carries the FTC Holder Rule notice, quote it in a loan complaint: it says the holder “IS SUBJECT TO ALL CLAIMS AND DEFENSES WHICH THE DEBTOR COULD ASSERT AGAINST THE SELLER,” with recovery that “SHALL NOT EXCEED AMOUNTS PAID BY THE DEBTOR HEREUNDER.” The dispute documents checklist covers the rest.

What do complaints do, and what don’t they do?

A complaint puts the company’s answer on the record and gives regulators a pattern to act on. The joint Treasury, CFPB and FTC announcement says these complaints “help enable an all-of-government response to root out unfair and deceptive practices.”

A complaint does not cancel a contract, stop a payment obligation, or reopen a closed cancellation window. Cancellation is never automatic; it turns on the contract type, the dates, your state and the facts. If a window is still open, cancel in writing with the seller directly and copy the lender. Keep paying while complaints are pending unless an attorney licensed in your state has reviewed your file and advised otherwise, because missed payments can bring late fees, default and credit reporting.

Where do complaints fit in the order?

1. Inside a cancellation window? A complaint won’t cancel anything, so send the seller a written cancellation by the required method and copy the lender the same day. State windows differ, and some run past three days; check the state table and the deadline tool.
2. Identify your contract and every company: the installer, lender, servicer and warranty provider.
3. Ask in writing, and complain for free, using the channels above.

Disclosure: Candid Yak works with Titan Advocacy Group, a solar consumer advocacy firm, and may be paid when readers hire it.

4. If they refuse, and your records show a gap between what you were told and what you signed, get a free case review from an attorney-backed firm. Bring the complaint responses to that review, because a company’s written answer shows where it stands. A firm worth hiring reviews the documents before it quotes, tells you plainly if a free route is still open, names the attorney licensed in your state who will handle the file, puts its fee and what happens to that fee if the company refuses in writing, never tells you to stop paying, and never guarantees a result or claims a connection to your installer or lender. See solar cancellation companies.
5. Other routes: a buyout or transfer at sale for a lease or PPA, and a payoff or refinance for a loan, on the contract’s terms.

The main exit guide walks through each step.

Disclosure: Candid Yak works with Titan Advocacy Group, a solar consumer advocacy firm, and may be paid when readers hire it. This page’s author, Kira Fairbank, is a manager at Vacation Ownership Consultants, a timeshare exit firm.

This is general information, not legal advice. Which agency can act, and how fast, depends on your contract type, your state and whether the company is licensed there, so put your documents in front of an attorney licensed in your state before you send a notice, sign a release, or change any payment.