Should I sign on the doorstep?

No. A discount that expires tonight is a sales tactic. Cooling-off rules in your state may still let you cancel (read them) but you should not need them.

Does a ticked item mean the company is dishonest?

No, and framing it that way makes the checklist useless. Every item here can appear in an ordinary contract. A ticked box means there is a specific question to ask and an answer to get in writing, nothing more.

I ticked nothing. Is my contract fine?

It means these ten things are not the problem. It does not mean the contract is good. Read the sections on production guarantees, what happens at the end of the term and what happens if you sell the house, because those can hold expensive surprises and are not all on this list.

How long do I have to cancel a solar contract?

For an in-home sale, the federal cooling-off rule gives you three business days, and it applies even when you invited the seller. Saturday counts as a business day. Your state may add to that, so read the cancellation clause in your own contract.

How do I find out if there is a dealer fee?

Ask for the cash price in writing and compare it with the financed price. The gap is the fee, and it may not appear as a line item. The CFPB found hidden fees in this market of 10 to 30% of the cash price, sometimes above 50%.

Should I be worried about an arbitration clause?

It is worth understanding rather than fearing. It decides where and how a dispute would be resolved, and it may waive a court proceeding or participation in a class action. Whether that matters to you is a judgment, but it should be a judgment you make knowingly rather than discover afterwards.

What is a production guarantee and do I need one?

A commitment that the system will generate a stated amount, with a remedy if it does not. It matters most under a lease or PPA, where your payment obligation continues whether or not output does. Ask whether there is one, what it promises, and what you have to do to claim under it.

The salesperson says the price is only good today. Is that real?

Ask for the reason in writing: a real deadline survives that. The federal cooling-off rule exists because in-home sales create this kind of pressure, and a company that will not give you a week is telling you something useful about itself.

Should I get a lawyer to read it?

For a twenty-five-year agreement on your house, an hour of a lawyer’s time is cheap insurance, particularly for a lease or PPA where the obligations run longest. This checklist is designed to help you ask better questions, not to replace that.

What is not on this checklist that I should still check?

What happens at the end of the term, whether the agreement can be assigned to another company without your consent, what the system does in a power cut, who is responsible if the roof leaks, and what happens if you sell. Each has its own page in our research library.

HyreSolar tools

Solar contract red-flag checklist

Ten clauses worth finding before you sign. A ticked box is a question to ask the installer, not proof of anything.

Checked September 3, 2026. Data as of August 23, 2026. HyreSolar sells and installs nothing.

This solar contract checker gives an estimate from your own numbers in under a minute, with every assumption listed under the result.

Tick each clause you find in the contract; the count is how many questions still need an answer. The costliest three are a tax credit you cannot claim (§25D is $0 for systems placed in service after 31 December 2025), a dealer fee inside the financed amount, and pressure to sign today.

Ticking none does not make a contract good. It means these ten are not the problem.

Most solar complaints trace back to a few clauses that were in the contract all along. This checker lists the ten that most often cost homeowners money or leave them without recourse, and asks you to tick the ones you find.

It does not read the contract for you, score it or call it a scam; it turns a long document into a short list of questions to put to the installer before you sign.

Three clauses deserve attention first. A price or payment that assumes a federal tax credit: §25D is zero for systems placed in service after 31 December 2025.

A dealer fee inside the financed amount, which the CFPB found is usually excluded from the APR. And pressure to sign the same day, which removes the time you need to compare.

After those, look for payment escalators, missing production guarantees, vague workmanship warranties, liens and UCC-1 filings, arbitration clauses and unclear end-of-term terms.

If you tick any box, ask for the answer in writing and keep it with the contract. Many states give a three-day right to cancel door-to-door sales under the FTC cooling-off rule, and some states give longer for solar specifically.

For the money side, run the financing through the dealer fee calculator and any lease through the escalator calculator. If you want a second contract to compare, the form under the result sends your situation to another installer.

How to use a count that deliberately refuses to judge

The tool returns a count and a prompt, never a verdict. We are not going to tell you that a contract is a scam, because we have not read it, we are not your lawyer, and a count of checkboxes cannot support that conclusion.

What the count does is tell you how many conversations you still need to have.

A single ticked item can matter more than five others. These are not weighted and they are not equivalent. A tax credit you cannot claim changes the economics of the whole deal; an arbitration clause changes what happens in a dispute that may never occur.

The absence of all ten is not a pass. Contracts contain terms we have not listed, and expensive problems can sit in the parts nobody thinks to check. Read the document.

Nothing ticked: These ten are not your problem. Read the contract anyway, particularly the sections on production guarantees, end of term and what happens if you sell.
One to three ticked: Work through each one as a specific written question before signing, and keep the answers.
Four or more: Not proof of anything, and worth slowing down for. Ask for a week, get the answers in writing, and consider having someone independent read the agreement.

How to work through the checklist

Where each input comes from, so nothing is a guess.

1. Have the actual contract in front of you

Not the proposal, not the presentation, not the sales deck. The document you would be signing.

Where to find it: Ask for it before you are asked to sign. Any seller who will not send the agreement in advance has answered a different question you were also asking.

2. Work down the ten items and tick what is present

Each is phrased so that ticking it means the thing is there, not that it is wrong.

Where to find it: Use the contract’s search function. Terms like "escalator", "arbitration", "assignment", "lien" and "guarantee" find them quickly.

3. Turn every ticked item into a written question

Verbal answers from a salesperson are not terms. Terms are in the document.

Where to find it: Email is fine and creates a record. If an answer contradicts the contract, the contract governs, so ask for the document to be amended rather than accepting reassurance.

4. Check the cooling-off period before you decide how much time you have

The federal rule applies to in-home sales of $25 or more even when you invited the seller, and the count is in business days.

Where to find it: Our door-to-door sales page covers the federal rule in detail, including the finding that it applies even when you invited them and that Saturday counts as a business day.

5. Check your own state as well

Several states impose disclosure requirements beyond the federal baseline, and a few are unusually specific.

Where to find it: Our state-by-state page covers what we verified, including Maryland’s wildlife barrier requirement and its written-waiver escape hatch.

How the calculator works it out

1
Read the contract, not the proposal
They are different documents and only one of them binds you.
2
Tick what is present
Ten items, each phrased as a presence rather than a judgment.
3
Read the count as a workload
It tells you how many written questions remain, not whether the deal is bad.
4
Get the answers in the document
A reassurance that is not in the contract is not a term of the contract.

The formula, in full. count = number of the ten listed items present in the contract. The tool returns the count and a prompt to read the document. It does not weight items, score the contract, or produce a verdict.

A worked example, start to finish

A financed proposal presented in the home, where the homeowner worked through the checklist against the actual agreement rather than the sales document.

Step	Value
Tax credit assumed in pricing	Present
Dealer fee inside financing	Present
Escalator in the payment	Present
Production guarantee	Absent
Signature requested same day	Present
Other five items	Absent
Result	4 of 10 items present

None of these makes the contract fraudulent. What the count says is that there are four specific written questions outstanding: which placed-in-service date the credit assumes, what the cash price is, what the escalator totals over the term, and why the signature is needed today. The answers are what matter, not the count.

How the answer moves

What each item points at. Every one is drawn from something we have verified in a primary source.

Item	Why it is on the list	What to ask
Tax credit in the pricing	§25D is $0 for systems placed in service after 31 December 2025	Which placed-in-service date does this assume, and what is the gross price?
Dealer fee	CFPB found hidden fees of 10–30% of the cash price, sometimes above 50%	What is the cash price, in writing?
Escalator	At 2.9% over 25 years a payment nearly doubles and totals $64,772 against $45,000 flat	What is the total across the full term?
Production guarantee	A payment obligation continues whether or not output does	Is there one, what does it promise, and how do I claim?
Roof condition and responsibility	The flashing is the component no manufacturer backstops	Who is responsible for a leak, and for how long?
Warranty terms	Both major warranties exclude the labor they exist to cover	Who honors the workmanship warranty if you cease trading?
Lien or UCC-1 filing	Consumer-goods termination is automatic in one month; you can self-file and claim $500	What is filed, against what, and when is it released?
Arbitration clause	Decides where and how a dispute is resolved before one exists	Does this waive a court or a class action?
Buyout or end-of-term terms	Renewal, buyout at fair market value and removal are very different costs	What exactly happens in year 25, and who pays?
Signature requested today	The federal cooling-off rule covers in-home sales even when you invited the seller	Why today? And what is my cancellation right?

Note that none of these is illegal and they appear in ordinary contracts. They are on the list because each one has a cost attached that is easy to miss and expensive to discover later.

What moves this number most

Ranked, largest first. A proposal can change any of these without saying anything untrue, so check these inputs first.

1. The tax credit assumption

The item that can change the economics of the whole deal. A net price built on a 30% credit for a system placed in service in 2026 is a price nobody can achieve. Compare gross prices across every quote.

2. The dealer fee

Not always shown as a line item. The reliable way to find it is to ask for the cash price and compare. Our loan calculator shows what it costs once it is inside the principal.

3. The escalator

A small percentage that compounds into a large cost over a lease. Our escalator calculator shows the total across the term, which a monthly quote leaves out.

4. Time pressure

The item that makes every other item worse, because it removes the chance to check any of them. A real deadline survives being asked about in writing.

5. Who does the work

Not on the checklist but worth establishing. Our research found 96.3% of verified companies hold a license in exactly one state, and two 10-Ks describing opposite operating structures.

6. What happens if they cease trading

A workmanship warranty is only as good as the company behind it, and the three warranties on a solar system come apart differently. See when your installer goes under.

Common mistakes with this calculation

Treating the count as a score
It is not weighted and the items are not equivalent. One ticked box can matter more than five others. Read what each one points at rather than the number.
Reading an empty checklist as approval
These ten are not exhaustive. Contracts contain terms we have not listed and expensive problems can sit in the parts nobody thinks to check.
Checking the proposal instead of the contract
The proposal is a sales document. The contract is what binds you, and the two can differ on the points that matter.
Accepting verbal answers
A salesperson’s reassurance is not a term. If an answer matters, ask for the document to say it, and keep the email either way.
Signing to hold a price
A price that expires tonight is a sales technique. The federal cooling-off rule exists because in-home sales create this pressure, and it applies even when you invited the seller.
Assuming a red flag means fraud
It does not, and framing it that way makes the checklist useless. These are contract-bearing items with costs attached. The question is what the term says, not whether someone is a criminal.

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What this calculator leaves out

The result is a planning estimate. A real proposal accounts for these; this page does not.

A checklist, not a legal review, and not a verdict on any contract.
The ten items are not weighted, not ranked and not exhaustive.
Absence of all ten says nothing about terms we have not listed.
HyreSolar does not draft, review, approve or sign solar contracts.
For a contract that matters to you, a lawyer reading the actual document beats any checklist.

The research behind these numbers

Door-to-door solar salesThe federal cooling-off rule, which applies even when you invited them, and why Saturday counts as a business day.Read the research Solar sales regulation by stateWhat each state requires, including Maryland’s wildlife barrier requirement and its written-waiver escape hatch.Read the research The UCC-1 lienWhat is filed against your equipment, how consumer-goods termination works automatically, and how to self-file and claim $500.Read the research The workmanship warrantyNo manufacturer backstops it, and both major warranties exclude the labor it exists to cover.Read the research When your installer goes underHow the three warranties come apart, and why Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 are not the same news.Read the research Verifying an installer’s licenseOnly 4 of 27 states name solar in the license, and two require none for residential work at all.Read the research

Questions this calculator answers

Should I sign on the doorstep?: No. A discount that expires tonight is a sales tactic. Cooling-off rules in your state may still let you cancel (read them) but you should not need them.
Does a ticked item mean the company is dishonest?: No, and framing it that way makes the checklist useless. Every item here can appear in an ordinary contract. A ticked box means there is a specific question to ask and an answer to get in writing, nothing more.
I ticked nothing. Is my contract fine?: It means these ten things are not the problem. It does not mean the contract is good. Read the sections on production guarantees, what happens at the end of the term and what happens if you sell the house, because those can hold expensive surprises and are not all on this list.
How long do I have to cancel a solar contract?: For an in-home sale, the federal cooling-off rule gives you three business days, and it applies even when you invited the seller. Saturday counts as a business day. Your state may add to that, so read the cancellation clause in your own contract.
How do I find out if there is a dealer fee?: Ask for the cash price in writing and compare it with the financed price. The gap is the fee, and it may not appear as a line item. The CFPB found hidden fees in this market of 10 to 30% of the cash price, sometimes above 50%.
Should I be worried about an arbitration clause?: It is worth understanding rather than fearing. It decides where and how a dispute would be resolved, and it may waive a court proceeding or participation in a class action. Whether that matters to you is a judgment, but it should be a judgment you make knowingly rather than discover afterwards.
What is a production guarantee and do I need one?: A commitment that the system will generate a stated amount, with a remedy if it does not. It matters most under a lease or PPA, where your payment obligation continues whether or not output does. Ask whether there is one, what it promises, and what you have to do to claim under it.
The salesperson says the price is only good today. Is that real?: Ask for the reason in writing: a real deadline survives that. The federal cooling-off rule exists because in-home sales create this kind of pressure, and a company that will not give you a week is telling you something useful about itself.
Should I get a lawyer to read it?: For a twenty-five-year agreement on your house, an hour of a lawyer’s time is cheap insurance, particularly for a lease or PPA where the obligations run longest. This checklist is designed to help you ask better questions, not to replace that.
What is not on this checklist that I should still check?: What happens at the end of the term, whether the agreement can be assigned to another company without your consent, what the system does in a power cut, who is responsible if the roof leaks, and what happens if you sell. Each has its own page in our research library.

Sources and methodology

Figures dated August 23, 2026. Last reviewed September 3, 2026 by the HyreSolar research desk, which writes and checks every tool on this site.

Issue Spotlight: Solar lending practices (CFPB, retrieved August 23, 2026). Source for hidden fees of 10–30% of the cash price, sometimes above 50%.
Cooling-Off Rule, 16 CFR Part 429 (Federal Trade Commission, retrieved August 23, 2026). The federal in-home sales cancellation rule referenced above.
Residential Clean Energy Credit (§25D) (IRS, retrieved August 11, 2026). Basis for the tax credit item on the checklist.

Related solar tools

Proposal analyzer Turns any quote into price per watt and cost per first-year kWh.
Lease escalator calculator What a yearly payment increase turns the lease payment into by the final year.
Dealer fee calculator The rate you really pay once a dealer fee sits inside the loan principal.

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