A young and persuasive salesperson came to Grand Junction resident Brandon Keen鈥檚 home last summer selling residential rooftop solar systems. Keen was interested in solar, so he listened to the salesperson鈥檚 spiel.
Keen said the Go Brite Solar salesperson told him that a Colorado grant would pay for the solar panels and installation and that Our World Energy, a solar company headquartered in Arizona, with locations in Colorado, New Mexico and Texas, was one of only a few companies approved to install the system. Keen signed up to lease the panels.
Go Brite Solar, with locations in multiple states, is a 鈥渟ales only鈥� company that solicits solar systems door-to-door then sells the contracts to a solar installation company like Our World Energy.
Go Brite Solar鈥檚 website states 鈥淗int: We don鈥檛 work for solar companies, we work for you.鈥�
After signing a contract, Keen learned from a neighbor who had his solar panels installed by a longtime local company that the solar are not grants but, instead, a collection of state and federal tax credits for people who owe taxes. And that鈥檚 only with a purchase 鈥� not lease 鈥� of the solar. When a person leases the solar panels, the tax credit goes to the lending institution financing the project. Some utility providers offer rebates for solar as well.
Keen also learned that any certified solar company could do the installation. He canceled his contract with Our World Energy.
鈥淚t was a brokerage group that came to our door,鈥� Keen, 38, said. 鈥淲e were tricked on how he presented it. I鈥檓 not sure if he understood the incentive program.鈥�
Colorado Newsline attempted to reach Go Brite Solar for comment by calling both of the phone numbers listed on its website. One number reached an answering machine for Utah Online School, according to the greeting. Messages left by a reporter were not returned. A man answered a call to the second number, identifying as Cove Home Security, a company in Draper, Utah.
In recent years there鈥檚 been an uptick in Colorado, and across the nation, in door-to-door solar 鈥渟ales only鈥� solicitors accused of predatory and misleading practices. They鈥檙e solar brokers who then sell the contracts to solar installation companies 鈥� some of whom have gone out of business or moved, leaving customers stranded when a problem arises or with incomplete systems.
The office of Attorney General Phil Weiser would not confirm or otherwise comment on any potential investigations into deceptive solar sales practices, said AG spokesperson Elliot Goldbaum.
Consumer protection legislation
The Colorado Solar and Storage Association expects to support consumer protection legislation at the Colorado Legislature in the coming weeks. The consumer protection bill, if it鈥檚 introduced, would provide guidelines not only for sales-only companies but also for solar installation businesses.
鈥淲e鈥檙e tired of seeing unethical people selling solar in Colorado,鈥� said Mike Kruger, the COSSA CEO and president. 鈥淭he bill will put up guardrails, and spell out expectations for behavior of salespersons.鈥�
Grand Junction resident Ted Juntilla, 68, is a disabled military veteran who had been considering solar when a person selling for Our World Energy came to his door in June 2024. Juntilla said the salesperson told him that the solar installation would be free and that his utility bills would remain the same for the next 25 years.
However, Juntilla鈥檚 solar system would not have been free 鈥� instead, it would have been financed over a period of years with no upfront costs. Customers pay a monthly fee, basically trading a utility bill for a finance payment.
Juntilla said he felt pressured to decide quickly, because he was told that his utility provider Grand Valley Power would allow only a certain percentage of homes in his subdivision to install solar systems. However, when Juntilla contacted the electric cooperative he was told that was not the case.
Grand Valley Power is a member of Colorado Rural Electric Association, a nonprofit that represents and serves 21 Colorado electric co-ops. Grand Valley Power spokesperson Rita Sanders said Grand Valley Power does not currently restrict, or in the past restricted, anyone from installing solar due to system capacity. However, that could change in the future if local solar generation meets or exceeds demand in the same area, which poses challenges to maintaining a safe and reliable grid, Sanders said in an email to Newsline.
Juntilla also learned that Our World Energy had pulled a building permit for his property from the Mesa County Building Department, without his permission.
鈥淭here was no mention of doing that during the sales pitch,鈥� Juntilla said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 sign anything. It really irritated me. It seems unscrupulous not to notify me.鈥�
Attempts to reach Our World Energy by phone and email were unsuccessful. A third-party agent answered the phone, and told a reporter that someone from the company would call back.
San Isabel Electric is a CREA member based in Pueblo West, serving customers in southern Colorado. San Isabel spokesperson Paris Daugherty said San Isabel receives a lot of calls from its members asking if the co-op is associated with a particular door-to-door salesperson.
鈥淪ometimes (the sales associates) say they are San Isabel Electric and want to inspect the meter,鈥� Daugherty said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 frustrating to us. We do not do door-to-door meter inspections.鈥�
San Isabel Electric told Ion Solar, headquartered in Provo, Utah, that it was misrepresenting itself by saying it was with the electric co-op, and that it was impersonating the co-op, which is a crime. She said that after San Isabel contacted local media Ion Solar stopped the practice.
However, other companies in the San Isabel area continue to mislead residents, Daugherty said. She said it鈥檚 difficult to confront the sales associates, because they do not wear clothing identifying who they work for, they drive vehicles without a business logo, and they do not give out business cards.
鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult to figure out what company they鈥檙e working for,鈥� she said.
It鈥檚 not just sales-only companies that are engaging in misleading sales practices. There are also fly-by-night installers who do not finish installations they were hired to do, Daugherty said.
鈥淭here is tremendous opportunity for solar in southern Colorado. In our area there are a wide range of installers and sales companies that do great work. (The unethical companies) are ruining it for reputable businesses.鈥�
Scams increasing
Both the declining cost of solar, and the availability of incentives offered by the federal government 鈥� whose goal during the Biden administration was to transition to a 100% carbon-free electric grid by 2035 鈥� has led to an increase in solar sales in recent years. Solar accounted for 40% of all new electric generating capacity in 2019 in the country.
鈥淪olar scams usually happen door-to-door, and ramp up when there are incentives like there are currently,鈥� said Mark Fetterhoff, program manager for AARP ElderWatch, a consumer watchdog group that has partnered with the Colorado attorney general鈥檚 office for 20 years. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an opportunity for misinformation. People take advantage of it.鈥�
Fetterhoff said both solar and home alarm companies are commonly tied to door-to-door sales scams occurring nationwide.
In November 2023, a Time magazine report described how door-to-door sales associates across the country often tell consumers they can get free panels from the government, which is not true. Consumers are told there are tax credits, though the credits are only for those who owe taxes. And they鈥檙e told they can eliminate their energy bill, which is not likely unless they invest in a battery 鈥� at a significant extra cost. In most cases people with solar will still have a small utility bill that allows their system to be hooked up to the grid.
AARP published an article in September on how to avoid solar scams, and lists a website 鈥� brokercheck.finra.org 鈥� where consumers can check to learn if a solar broker is licensed. Go Brite Solar is not listed as a licensed broker.
A 鈥榖ro鈥� sales model
Atlasta Solar Center in Grand Junction, and Empowered Energy Systems in Hotchkiss, are employee-owned solar companies on the Western Slope. Representatives at both companies say they have noted a huge increase in door-to-door sales associates using aggressive and misleading practices.
The associates are often young 鈥� 18 to early 30s 鈥� and friendly, clean-cut, religious and from Utah, said Lou Villaire, one of the owners of Atlasta Solar Center, a company in business for 45 years.
It鈥檚 a 鈥渂ro model,鈥� a get-rich-quick scheme that has taken hold throughout the United States, Villaire said. The associates have a 鈥渞ed line,鈥� a minimum amount they must sell the job for and any money above that amount they get to pocket. Thus, they鈥檙e incentivized to sell the product for as high as they can, he said.
鈥淥nce they sell the contract, they鈥檙e done,鈥� Villaire said, adding that contracts are often sold to installers headquartered out-of-state, some of which have gone bankrupt and later reemerge as a new solar business.
Atlasta receives calls every week from people seeking help with getting their solar installation completed, but they鈥檙e unable to reach the original installer because the company is no longer in business or has left town, Villaire said.
鈥淚鈥檝e been in the business 20 years and I鈥檝e never seen anything like this year, these tactics,鈥� Villaire said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e always seen plenty of companies come and go, but this level of deception I鈥檝e never seen.鈥�
Additionally, Villaire noted dozens of cases where consumers were sold solar installations for $5,000 to $10,000 more than what locally-owned solar companies would charge for the same system.
Crawford rancher and farmer Terry Baker said he canceled a deal he made last fall with an out-of-town door-to-door solar sales associate after he learned that he was being charged $10,000 more than what Empowered Energy Systems would have charged. Baker, 63, had signed up, in part, because he was told that without solar, his utility bills could triple in the next few years.
Baker was charged a $1,500 cancellation fee.
鈥淲e thought we had plenty of time to back out,鈥� Baker said. 鈥淚 paid it. I wanted out of the whole thing. I wanted away from it. I鈥檓 partly to blame. He was just a young guy, in his 20s. He raced over a lot.鈥�
Danielle Carre, a co-owner at Empowered Energy, said homeowners have been lured into signing contracts only to learn later that they need an electrical upgrade to install the solar, and that the costs will be significantly higher. Empowered Energy has also heard from community members that they were told they鈥檇 receive tax credits for solar and for replacing their roof. However, federal tax credits only apply to the solar, not roof replacements.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been approached by these sales companies but refuse to work with them,鈥� Carre said. 鈥淭heir price is inflated. It saddens us that this is happening, because solar is a good thing and these practices give the industry a bad reputation.鈥�
Teddy Aegerter, of Atlasta Solar, said homeowners are sometimes misled about what they are signing. Signatures are often collected on iPads, without any hard copies given to customers, he said.
The sales-only business model is not necessarily a problem itself, said Kruger, the Colorado Solar and Storage Association CEO. Not all business owners are comfortable selling, so they might want to hire someone to do it for them.
Villaire said he considered hiring an outside sales company to sell for Atlasta and was negotiating with someone until he learned what the sales associate would charge customers.
鈥淲hat stopped me was one of the owners told me the only way they鈥檇 do it is if they could put one-third of the price in their pocket,鈥� Villaire said. 鈥淔or perspective, most sales types of jobs garner a commission of 3 to 6%, not 33%. They are motivated to go above the red line for the highest price they can.鈥�
Kruger said, 鈥淧eople get into trouble when sales companies make tons of promises, then sell the contract to an installer 鈥� promises like 鈥榶ou鈥檒l never get a utility bill again,鈥� or, 鈥業t will pay for itself in two years.鈥� They鈥檙e not being honest or truthful. They鈥檒l say whatever it takes to get a customer鈥檚 money.
鈥淥ne thing is uniform 鈥� it鈥檚 all designed for a quick sale, and a quick buck.鈥�
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