Solar Contract Cancellation Fees: What Homeowners Should Know

Can a solar company charge a cancellation fee?

Not when you cancel inside a valid cooling-off window. The cancellation notice that the FTC’s Cooling-Off Rule requires tells you that you may cancel “without any Penalty or Obligation,” and the seller then has 10 business days to refund what you paid. Once the window has closed, your own contract sets every solar contract cancellation fee and exit cost between you and the way out.

A cancellation fee is a charge the contract sets for ending the deal before the work is finished. An early termination amount is what a lease or power purchase agreement (PPA) says you owe to end it early, and a buyout price is what the system’s owner charges to sell it to you. Each sits in its own clause, and cancellation is never automatic: what you owe depends on your contract type, your dates, your state and the facts.

Is there a solar contract cancellation fee inside the cooling-off window?

The federal Cooling-Off Rule generally covers a solar sale made at your home, though no agency has ruled that it reaches every solar deal; the CFPB says door-to-door solar contracts “may be subject to” it. Its text covers “a sale, lease, or rental,” no agency has addressed PPAs, and it has exclusions, such as a sale made entirely by mail or phone.

Where the rule applies, a valid cancellation costs you nothing. Within 10 business days of your notice, the seller must refund all payments, return any note you signed, and “terminate promptly any security interest created in the transaction” (16 CFR 429.1(g)). It may not sell your note to a finance company before midnight of the fifth business day after you signed (429.1(h)). The rule treats a state law that permits “any fee or penalty on the buyer” for cancelling as directly inconsistent with it (429.2(b)), and state laws may give you more.

Several state solar laws agree:

• Texas. For residential solar purchases and leases signed on or after September 1, 2025, you can cancel “without penalty or further obligation” within five business days (Occupations Code 1806.156), and the contract must require an affiliated or referred lender to cancel the loan too (1806.155(c)).
• South Carolina. You can cancel a solar sale or lease until midnight of the tenth calendar day after signing, and the required contract statement says “you will not owe anything and will receive a refund of any money you paid” (S.C. Code Regs. 28-78). The same regulation lets you cancel within seven calendar days if a building permit or HOA approval is denied, “upon payment of reasonable cancellation costs or fees.”
• Oregon. Under House Bill 4029, for installation contracts signed on or after June 5, 2026, a seller whose customer rescinds within three business days “may not charge any cancellation fee” and must release any lien it recorded within 20 days of written notice.

Windows vary by state and can be longer than three days, so check the state-by-state table, the cancellation deadline tool and the before-installation guide.

If a loan secured by your home paid for the system, such as a home equity loan or HELOC, the Truth in Lending Act’s right of rescission may apply instead, and on rescission “the consumer shall not be liable for any amount, including any finance charge” (12 CFR 1026.23(d)(1)). A typical solar loan secured only by the panels usually doesn’t carry that right, so check whether your loan is secured by the house.

What can the contract charge after the window closes?

After the window, the contract decides. Look for clauses headed cancellation, termination or default, and note whether each states a fixed charge, a formula, or the company’s costs to date. Treasury’s purchase guide asks, “Can I cancel the contract early? Are there prepayment or early termination fees or other charges?” and the FTC says the contract should state “whether there are early termination fees or other charges if you want to end the contract early.”

We found no agency source that gives a typical cancellation fee, so ask the company in writing which clause it relies on and how it calculated the figure.

What does it cost to end a solar lease or PPA early?

The FTC warns that “depending on your contract, it may be difficult and expensive for you to end a lease agreement before the end of the term.” Your agreement may state an early termination amount, a buyout price, or both, and at the end of a PPA, Treasury says, “You will need to purchase it from the company at ‘fair market value.’” The lease buyout guide shows how that number is built, and the lease and PPA guides cover the other exits.

Federal law limits these charges for leases it covers. Under the Consumer Leasing Act, early termination charges are allowed “only at an amount which is reasonable in the light of the anticipated or actual harm” (15 U.S.C. 1667b(b)), and Regulation M says the lease’s stated charge “must be reasonable” (12 CFR 1013.4(g)). The act reaches household leases of personal property under a yearly adjusted dollar cap, so whether a rooftop lease qualifies is a question for a lawyer.

Processing charges can sit beside the buyout price: Spruce Power’s published schedule, effective March 1, 2026, lists a “System Buyout Service Charge” of $300 without a filing and $400 with one. Run your own comparison in the solar exit cost calculator.

Does a solar loan have a prepayment penalty?

Your loan disclosure answers this. Regulation Z requires the Truth in Lending disclosure for a loan with interest on the unpaid balance to include “a statement indicating whether or not a charge may be imposed for paying all or part of a loan’s principal balance before the date on which the principal is due” (12 CFR 1026.18(k)).

Many solar loans are built around prepayment. The CFPB, citing industry data, says solar loans with terms of 8 to 25 years “are typically repaid in 7 to 9 years due to prepayments,” and it found it “commonplace” for them to re-amortize to a higher payment around the 18th or 19th month without a large early prepayment (payment increase guide).

Before you pay off, get a written payoff quote and compare the principal with the cash price, since the CFPB found some lenders’ fees “can increase the loan principal by 30 percent or more above the cash price” (dealer fee guide). Once a loan on consumer goods is paid, UCC 9-513 requires the lender to file a termination statement within one month. If you qualify for a lower rate, a personal loan is one way to refinance; the payoff and refinance guide runs the numbers.

Who pays to remove and reinstall the panels?

At the end of a lease, the FTC says “the company must remove the system and put your roof back in its original condition,” and the CFPB says the lessor “is responsible for uninstalling and removing the panels.”

Removal in the middle of a contract, for a roof replacement for example, carries its own cost. California’s utility regulator tells buyers to ask, “Roughly how much will it cost to remove and re-install the panels if I need to replace my roof in the future, including inspection fees?” We found no national figure we could verify. Spruce Power’s schedule lists temporary removal and reinstallation at $350 per panel for New Jersey customers, plus a $165 processing fee, and says “Additional charges may apply based on roof conditions or scope of work.”

If a lender removes financed panels after a default, the UCC’s duty to pay for removal damage runs to owners and lienholders of the real estate “other than the debtor” (UCC 9-604(d)), so it promises the borrower no roof repair; see the roof damage guide.

What does a transfer at sale cost?

Before you transfer a lease or PPA at sale, the FTC suggests asking, “Will the buyer have to meet credit requirements or pay any fees before taking over the contract?” Spruce Power publishes a $400 “Home Filing Service Charge” for processing a home sale request and $350 for a refinance or HELOC request. Ask your company for its own fees in writing before you list the house. The lease sale guide and the loan sale guide cover the timeline.

What should you do before you pay any exit cost?

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

Work through these in order and stop when one works.

1. Inside a cancellation window? Cancel in writing now, by the method the contract and the law require, and send a copy to the lender the same day.
2. Identify your contract and every company. Use your documents to find your contract type (cash, loan, lease, PPA, or PACE) and every company involved: the installer, the lender, the loan servicer and the warranty provider. They may be four different companies; Mosaic loans, for example, have been serviced since September 22, 2025 by Solar Servicing LLC, a Forbright Bank subsidiary.
3. Ask in writing, and complain for free. Ask the company charging the fee to waive or justify it, and get the answer in writing. For a system you own, the FTC says: “If you have a problem with a system you bought, try to resolve it with the company first.” If you’re not satisfied, it says to report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to your state attorney general. For a loan, the CFPB’s complaint form asks, “Have you tried reaching out to the company?” For a lease or PPA, Treasury, the CFPB and the FTC jointly “encourage consumers that believe they have been a victim of unfair or deceptive practices to file a complaint with CFPB, FTC, or their relevant state consumer protection office.” Your state contractor licensing board takes complaints about installers.
4. If they refuse, and your documents show a gap between what you were promised and what you signed, such as a fee nobody disclosed, get a free case review from an attorney-backed firm.
5. Other routes: a buyout for a lease or PPA, a payoff or refinance for a loan, or a transfer when you sell.

Keep paying while any of this is open. Missed payments can bring late fees and default, and the CFPB notes a secured lender “has the right to repossess the panels in cases of nonpayment,” so get professional advice before you change a payment. The stop-paying guide lists the consequences.

What does an exit firm charge, and what should you get in writing?

We found no published, verifiable price list for solar exit services, so this page gives no typical fee. A firm that offers a free case review should read your documents first and quote afterward. Before you pay anything, get these on paper: the total fee and what triggers each payment; what happens to the fee if the installer or lender refuses in writing; the attorney licensed in your state who will handle your file, with an engagement you sign directly with that attorney; and what counts as a finished result, such as a signed modification, settlement, release or cancellation.

For the attorney’s share of the work, the American Bar Association’s model rule says a contingent fee agreement “shall be in a writing signed by the client”; your state’s version of the rule controls.

The solar cancellation companies guide covers what a legitimate firm puts in writing.

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. Whether a fee is enforceable turns on your contract, your dates and your state’s law, so put the agreement in front of an attorney licensed in your state before you pay a disputed fee, sign a release, or change any payment.