‘I signed my life away’: Homeowner regrets spending $82k on solar panels

HICKORY, N.C. — A Hickory homeowner says she paid more than $80,000 for solar panels but she hasn’t seen the energy savings she expected.

Shirley, whose last name we’re not using, says a salesman came to her door and that she agreed to buy solar panels.

She says she signed a contract for $82,000 and that she was willing to spend that because the salesman promised her big savings on her power bills. “He sold us on the idea,” she said. “I signed my life away and didn’t realize what I was signing.”

But she says the bill for her first full month of solar was $135, not that much different than her bills before solar, which were $145, $133, $181, and $201.

Shirley also expected big tax breaks. Her contract says she may qualify for them, up to almost $25,000. In fairness, it does say “potential” tax credits not guaranteed, and that the business has “no authority to alter or issue tax credits.”

Shirley says she called the business, Top Tier Solar Solutions, but got the runaround.

The Better Business Bureau lists more than 40 complaints against Top Tier in the past year. Many of the complaints are similar to Shirley’s, saying the company promised more savings than the customers say they saw. That said, the BBB still gives the business an A+ rating because of its size compared with the number of complaints, plus its responsiveness.

Action 9′s Jason Stoogenke emailed the company, which responded there’s “no problem whatsoever with her system; it is working exactly as expected and designed.” So, he asked if there’s no problem then why is Shirley’s latest bill about the same as her previous ones? Top Tier responded that her system is based on a “full year’s worth of production.” So, she won’t see real savings until summer, when there are longer days with more sun. The company also said she’s using more energy than last year.

Shirley emailed Action 9 saying Top Tier promised to work with her, but that she still hopes her “story will help prevent other senior citizens from being put in the position I now find myself in.”

New numbers out this week show just how popular solar is in North Carolina.

One of the main solar organizations in the country -- the Solar Energy Industries Association -- says the state added 115% of solar capacity last year.

The Association says N.C. now gets nearly 10% of its electricity from solar power, enough to power 1.2 million homes.

If you’re considering solar panels with any company:

1. SHOP AROUND — Ask multiple companies to give you proposals and prices and see how they compare. If they have very different opinions of what would work best, you may want to do more research.

2. DON’T LET SALESPEOPLE PRESSURE YOU.

3. READ THE CONTRACT — Make sure it says when the work will start, when the work will finish, what happens if something goes wrong, and what happens if you don’t get the tax credits, rebates, or savings on your power bill.

4. CHECK WITH INSURANCE — Run this all by your homeowners insurance company to see if there is any other concern you need to consider.

5. CONFIRM TAX CREDITS — Check with your tax preparer to make sure you’ll get the tax breaks you expect. (Likewise, check with your utility to make sure you’ll get the rebates you expect.) Also, check with the IRS to learn how to qualify for home energy tax credits.

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