Texans who installed solar panels are met with mounting debt and damage to their homes
Daily Mail
Sep 26, 2024
The now defunct company that provided solar panels to Adriana Morales has 17 customer complaints on the Better Business Bureau
Texans are finding out that getting their home fitted with solar panels can come with huge bills to pay, roof damage and even scams.
Solar energy companies often lure customers with ads promising to lower their electricity costs while also appealing to their desire to do good for the environment.
Adriana Morales was the victim of this kind of advertising, but she was especially unlucky because the company that installed her solar panels, HaHaSmart, is now out of business.
'I am almost $60,000 in debt, and there is no one to fix the panels, due (to) the company is closed now,' Morales told The Dallas Morning News.
The single mom was met with lofty promise after lofty promise from the now defunct company, which convinced her to go into debt to finance the project.
'Their promises were that I was going to get money back with the income tax, I was not going to pay the electricity bill because the electricity company will actually be paying me, it wasn’t going to affect my credit score, and neither of them were true,' Morales said.
It's not clear what Morales is referring to when she said she'd get money back with 'the income tax,' since Texas has no such tax nor does it have any sort of state-level tax benefit associated with solar.
What she could be referring to is the 30 percent federal tax rebate consumers are entitled to if they install solar panels.
In Morales' case, if her installation cost her a total of $60,000, she'd theoretically be able to claim an $18,000 tax credit when she filed the following year.
As to her claim of the electric company paying her, this is rooted in a grain of truth.
First, your electricity provider has to have what's called a net metering program.
Net metering is a billing method through which customers can get paid through solar credits or cash for the electricity they generate and return to the grid.
This map shows which counties in Texas have deregulated or regulated electricity markets. Morales lives in an unregulated market, which means she has to shop around for private providers rather than relying on a public utility
Morales lives in Dallas, which is a deregulated electricity market. This means she has to shop around for retail providers and choose one that offers net metering.
Morales said the fact that she'd have to go into debt before possibly seeing a return on investment years down the line wasn't made clear to her.
HaHaSmart has 17 customer complaints on its Better Business Bureau profile, with many people detailing similar issues to Morales.
The most recent complaint was from February 13, 2024.
'We purchased solar panels from Haha Smart and they were installed in September 2023. It is now February 2024 and they are not generating any power,' one person wrote.
They continued: 'I have tried calling at least two of their numbers, but their voicemail is NOT SET UP. I am beginning to think this company is a scam, and will start legal proceedings if this is not resolved promptly.'
Unfortunately, shady business practices have been observed with several solar companies in Texas.
Kim Kromdyk of Garland, northwest of Dallas, had lien for $97,000 filed against her for solar panels she never purchased
Kim Kromdyk of Garland, northwest of Dallas, had a lien totaling $97,000 filed against her for solar panels she never purchased.
All she did, she said, was sign off on a credit check to see how much they'd cost her. Nonetheless, Solar Mosaic allegedly slapped her with the lien and began billing her $368 a month.
It wasn't until CBS News Texas drew attention to her predicament that the company withdrew the lien.
Martha Ruiz, a neighbor of Morales, owns two homes that have solar panels - one at her residence and another at her daughter’s.
The company that installed the panels damaged her roof, which is now caving in, she said.
The company wasn't answering her calls, so she resorted to her homeowner's insurance. That's only gotten her into more debt because of her policy's $3,500 deductible.
Her daughter's electricity bill hasn't gone down because the panels stopped working, and the company that provided them is also out of business.
Like Morales, she's paying for something that no longer works.
One expert said consumers should take their time to make a decision when it comes to solar because of how big an investment it is
Ryan Barnett, senior vice president of policy and market development at Palmetto, a climate tech company, said there are ways to not end up in precarious situations like this.
It requires doing proper due diligence on companies and asking lots of questions to find potential red flags.
'For a consumer, you want to look at their time in business, track record, Texas State electoral contractor licenses, and you can inquire with the attorney general’s office or with the licensing Better Business Bureau in Texas if there are any complaints or outstanding complaints or issues with a contractor,' he told The Dallas Morning News.
He continued: 'Having local credentials is really important, if the installer is not able to provide them, that is a red flag. If the dealer is not able to provide them, or they point you elsewhere, or try and hurry you past those set of questions, that is a red flag.'
Overall, Barnett says taking your time with a huge investment like solar is the wisest course of action.
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