As the owner of a company that has made the full transition from
roofing contracting to solar contracting with roofing services, I
was shocked by the Flashings article, "Scam targets consumers seeking solar
roofs," in the November 2012 issue, page 16. To paint with such
a broad brush and imply there is a scam taking place without
pointing to even one specific example is irresponsible.
The article states the upfront investment is the equivalent of
paying for 30 to 40 years of electricity in advance as though this
is a matter of fact. This is just not true. More than 90 percent of
homeowners who choose solar have no upfront investment because they
are going through third-party financing, which provides power
through a power purchase agreement or lease program (which,
incidentally, can yield savings to the homeowner in excess of
$20,000 during the life of the agreement).
The article goes on to state contractors (implying they are
solar companies) are signing up customers, taking deposits and
leaving town with the money. The rest of the paragraph lumps them
in with the entire group of home improvement contractors to support
the position. This is...
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