Solar contract checklist
Read the contract with this beside it. Every box you cannot tick is a question to ask before you sign.
Written by HyreSolar Research Desk Primary-source research; not legal or financial advice
The short answer
This solar contract checklist lists every clause to find, in order, with the question to ask and the document to keep. It works for a cash purchase, a loan, a lease or a PPA.
Go through it before signing; if you signed at home, go through it within the three-business-day FTC cooling-off window, when you can still cancel without penalty.
The clauses that cost most later are the financed amount against the cash price, the escalator, and what happens when you sell the house.
Price and ownership
- Who owns the system: you, a lender’s collateral, or the provider?
Purchase, loan, lease and PPA read differently. The title of the document is a start; the ownership clause decides.
- The cash price, and the amount financed
The gap is the dealer fee the CFPB describes.
- Every incentive subtracted, with a source
Section 25D, the 30% residential credit, does not apply to expenditures after December 31, 2025. A 2026 quote that subtracts it is wrong.
- A re-amortization or prepayment assumption
Many loans re-amortize at month 19 unless about 30% is prepaid.
- Escalator rate and term (lease or PPA)
Run it through the escalator calculator.
Performance and warranties
- Production estimate and any guarantee
How shortfalls are measured and paid.
- Workmanship warranty: years, scope, and who backs it if the company fails
- Roof penetration warranty
- Equipment models named, not “or equivalent”
- Monitoring: whose platform
Manufacturer-hosted monitoring survives an installer failure.
Exits: cancellation, sale and default
- Notice of Cancellation attached, deadline filled in
Required by 16 CFR 429 for home sales.
- Termination fees after the window
- What happens on sale of the home
A buyer may need to credit-qualify; one provider’s 10-K says it may otherwise look to the original customer for remaining payments.
- Buyout and prepay options
- Any UCC-1 fixture filing, and the promise to terminate it at payoff
UCC § 9-513 requires it within one month for consumer goods.
- Arbitration clause
Note it; it affects how a dispute is heard.
Do not sign if
- You are asked to sign on a tablet without seeing the full agreement
An FTC scam signal.
- The contract asks you to waive cancellation rights
Not allowed under 16 CFR 429.1(d).
- Verbal promises are not in writing
When you are ready
Ready to explore solar for your home?
If you have done your research and want to speak with a solar professional, HyreSolar can help you explore available options.
Free, with no obligation: a person at HyreSolar reads your request and gets back to you about it. Matching with solar professionals is not live yet, so this is not a quote, and nothing is shared with anyone until you agree.
Keep learningQuestions
What should I check before signing a solar contract?
Can I cancel after signing?
Is an arbitration clause normal?
Sources and retrieval dates
- 16 CFR Part 429, FTC Cooling-Off Rule Retrieved 22 October 2026.
- CFPB, Issue Spotlight: Solar Financing , 7 August 2024: dealer fees, re-amortization, escalators Retrieved 22 October 2026.
- FTC consumer alert on solar and clean energy scams , 7 August 2024 Retrieved 22 October 2026.
- UCC § 9-513, termination statement Retrieved 22 October 2026.
- Sunrun Inc., Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 , transfer-on-sale terms Retrieved 22 October 2026.
- IRS, Residential Clean Energy Credit (Section 25D) , not available for property placed in service after 31 December 2025 Retrieved 22 October 2026.
This page explains how solar contracts and consumer rules usually work and links the documents it relies on.
It is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice; your own contract and your state’s law decide your case.
For a dispute, speak to a lawyer licensed in your state or your state attorney general’s consumer office. HyreSolar does not install, finance, lease or sell solar.