MinnieM123
Premium Member
I've noticed that with my own eyes in the last year. They seem to be declining quickly. (Now I have to do that update!)
In the "oh, boy" column: we had 18 solar panels installed over a year ago (it's done via long term loan.) The sales guy sat at our kitchen table and said, "When you do your taxes, you will get a $5K rebate back. When that happens, send it in to us, and that will keep your monthly payments low. (Current monthly payments are about $80. Our old electric bill was $145 or so and is now usually zero or near zero. In March, payments would go up to $150 if we don't send them the $5K and reamortize the loan.)
I file extensions most years for our Federal taxes, so they're due tomorrow, and being me, I'm just finishing up today.
Turns out that's not how it works.
It's not a rebate, it's a credit. You don't get a check for $5K, you get a credit of 30% of the total price (which in our case is actually more than that.) However: you don't get it all at once. It covers your current tax liability, and then the rest rolls over to next year. So we're getting less than $2K, and another $6K is rolling over (and we likely wouldn't get that much next year, either, even if we do our taxes early - like February before the payments go up.)
I thought I was 100% clear that it was exactly $5K and did not get split up.
The reason I'm telling you this: don't believe BS Solar installers. Oh, yes, there will be complaints all over the place. Here's my first one! Specifically avoid: Sun-Tech based in the Tampa area.
There have been a number of consumer complaints against solar panel companies. (I rent, so I don't have to deal with any of this.) There's a lot of misinformation out there, and some of these (sales) people will sell you the Brooklyn Bridge . . . Now, this is not to say that all of them are shady, but I have noticed news reports about this over the past few years.