The Solar Information Americans Actually Need: Without the Sales Pitch
Every day, thousands of homeowners in the U.S. search online for honest answers about solar energy. But most of what they find is not honest at all. The websites that show up first are run by solar companies, loan companies, and marketers. These websites have one goal, to get your phone number or email address and sell it to someone who wants to sell you something.
SolarInfoPath is different. We are an independent platform that researches and teaches people about solar energy. We do not sell solar panels. We do not install solar systems. We do not make money if you go solar. Our only job is to give you accurate, unbiased information, and then let you decide for yourself.
What Is Happening in U.S. Solar Right Now
The solar industry in 2026 is growing fast, and so are the problems inside it.
The average solar system for a U.S. home costs between $18,000 and $32,000 before any discounts. The federal government gives homeowners a 30% tax credit, which brings the price most people actually pay down to between $12,600 and $22,400. That might sound okay. But many solar contracts hide extra charges, yearly price increases, and savings promises that were never true to begin with.
In New York, the state Attorney General took legal action against a solar company called Attyx Solar. This company was targeting elderly homeowners in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Long Island. Salespeople told these residents that the panels were “free” and that their electricity bills would go away completely. Neither of those things was true. Those homeowners ended up with a 25-year loan from a company called Mosaic. Their monthly loan payments were bigger than the money they actually saved on electricity, right from the very start.
In California, a new rule called NEM 3.0 started in April 2023. Before this rule, homeowners got about 30 cents back for every extra unit of electricity they sent to the power grid. After the rule, it dropped to about 5 cents. Thousands of homeowners who signed solar contracts before this change were shown savings estimates that are no longer accurate.
In Texas, Florida, Arizona, and across the Midwest, similar problems keep showing up in court cases and consumer complaints. The company name changes. But the tricks are the same.
Before you make a decision this big, you need to understand what is really going on with solar laws, solar loans, and solar savings. That is exactly what SolarInfoPath tracks and explains, using real data, plain language, and no hidden agenda.
Solar Lawsuits and Your Consumer Rights
Did a solar salesperson make promises that turned out to be false? For example, did they say your electricity bill would drop to zero? Did they claim the panels were “government-approved”? Did they say your savings were guaranteed? If any of that was untrue, you may have legal options.
You do not need to prove that you were robbed. You only need to show that you were given false or misleading information.
Most U.S. states have consumer protection laws that cover exactly this kind of situation. In New York, it is called General Business Law § 349. In California, it is the Consumer Legal Remedies Act. Similar laws exist in most other states. These laws are on your side, and the bar for using them is lower than most homeowners think.
SolarInfoPath keeps track of active solar lawsuits, legal actions by state attorneys general, and individual cases across the country. We track which companies are involved, which states are affected, what people are complaining about, and what you can do if something similar happens to you.
Here are the key issues we cover:
Hidden fees on loans. Many home solar loans, including ones from Solar Mosaic and GreenSky, include “dealer fees” of 20 to 30 percent of the system cost. These fees are often never mentioned during the sales visit. If you were told your system cost $28,000 but then found out your loan was actually for $36,000, you were not confused, you were misled.
Made-up savings estimates. Real solar savings depend on several things: the angle of your roof, how your electric company charges you, how many hours of strong sunlight your area gets, and how much your panels slow down over time. If a company showed you one simple savings number without explaining any of those factors, they were not being honest with you.
False claims about the government or utility companies. In New York City, solar salespeople were caught telling homeowners their program was “approved by Con Edison” or was “part of a state government program.” Neither was true. These kinds of false claims have appeared in lawsuits filed in many different states.
Fire safety and installer responsibility. Solar panel fires are not common, about 1 in every 10,000 systems catches fire each year. But when it does happen, serious legal questions come up about who is responsible, whether the right permits were pulled, and whether the installation was done correctly. We track fire-related lawsuits in Florida, Arizona, and California, where these cases happen most often.
Solar Loans and Tax Credits: What You Need to Know
Solar finance in 2026 is more complicated than most websites make it seem. The federal tax credit, 30 percent under the Inflation Reduction Act, is important, but it is not the only thing that matters. Whether you buy your system outright, take out a loan, sign a Power Purchase Agreement, or sign a solar lease will each lead to a very different financial outcome.
The federal tax credit and bonus amounts. The base credit is 30%. This is called the Section 48 credit for businesses and the Section 25D credit for homeowners. In 2026, there are also two bonus amounts you might qualify for on top of the base 30%:
- The Domestic Content Bonus gives you 10% more if your solar system is made with parts manufactured in the United States.
- The Energy Community Bonus gives you another 10% more if your system is installed in a brownfield area or a community that used to depend on coal for jobs or power.
A business project that qualifies for both bonuses could receive a 50% federal tax credit — cutting the cost of the system in half before any state incentives are added.
Power Purchase Agreements: are they a good deal or a 25-year trap? A Power Purchase Agreement, or PPA, means the solar company owns the panels on your roof. You pay that company for the electricity the panels produce. Usually the rate you pay them is lower than what your utility charges. That sounds good. But most PPAs include an escalator clause. This means your payment goes up by 2 to 3 percent every single year for 25 years. If your utility’s electricity prices go up by less than that, or if electricity prices go down, you could end up paying more than you would have just using the regular power grid. Reading your PPA contract carefully is the key to knowing whether it is actually a good deal for you.
Loan sizing for larger solar projects. For business owners and large-scale solar developers, lenders use something called the Debt Service Coverage Ratio, or DSCR. This number tells the lender whether the project makes enough money to pay back the loan. A project that scores below 1.25 on this measure is usually considered too risky to lend to. Knowing how to set up your project to meet this number, through electricity sales agreements, capacity payments, or financial reserve accounts, is what separates projects that get funded from projects that do not.
SolarInfoPath explains all of this in plain language, including tax equity structures, partnership flips, and REAP grants for rural businesses, so that both homeowners and developers can understand it.
Solar Savings: What Your System Will Actually Return
Most solar websites say your system will pay for itself in 6 to 8 years. That number is based on national averages. It may have nothing to do with your specific home. Your real payback period depends on five things: your electricity rate, your net metering policy, how much sunlight your roof gets, the size of your system, and whether you claim the federal tax credit.
Here is what the real numbers look like for specific states in 2026:
New Jersey: Electricity rates here average 16 to 18 cents per kilowatt-hour. The state also has a program called SREC-II that pays homeowners extra money for every megawatt-hour their system produces. For homeowners who pay cash, the average payback period is 6 to 8 years. Over the full 25-year life of a system, a typical 8.6 kW setup generates between $28,000 and $42,000 in net savings.
Massachusetts: Customers of Eversource pay 29 to 31 cents per kilowatt-hour, almost double the national average. That makes solar savings very strong here. The state also has a program called SMART that pays homeowners additional money on top of the federal tax credit. Many homeowners in the Boston area can pay back their system in under seven years.
California: The new NEM 3.0 rule has completely changed the math for solar savings in this state. Under the old rules, homeowners could use solar to offset almost their entire electricity bill. Under NEM 3.0, the value of extra electricity sent back to the grid dropped by more than 80 percent. For Californians going solar in 2026, adding a battery to store extra electricity is now basically required to get the most out of the system, and that increases the upfront cost and extends the payback period.
Texas: There is no statewide rule that requires utilities to give credit for extra solar electricity. Whether you get paid for the extra power your panels produce depends completely on which electric company serves your address and what their specific buyback rate is. Customers of Oncor, CenterPoint, and AEP each face a different situation, and the math is different for each one.
SolarInfoPath is built to give you the real savings calculation for your home, your utility company, and your state, not a national average that may not apply to you at all.
Who SolarInfoPath Is For
This platform is built for three groups of people.
Homeowners who have already gone solar and feel something went wrong. Maybe your electricity bill did not drop the way you were promised. Maybe your loan amount was higher than what you were quoted. Maybe your installer stopped picking up the phone when you have warranty questions. SolarInfoPath covers your legal options and practical next steps.
Homeowners who are thinking about going solar and want the real numbers. Before you sign anything, you deserve to know exactly what your contract locks you into, what your realistic savings look like for your specific utility rate and location, and what questions to ask any installer before they start work.
Business solar developers and project finance professionals. The tax credit rules, grid connection rules, and incentive programs that govern large commercial and utility-scale solar projects in 2026 are complicated and changing fast. SolarInfoPath tracks the legal, regulatory, and financial changes that affect how these projects make money, from the day they are planned all the way through when they are running.
Why Independent Solar Information Matters
Almost every solar website online has a financial reason to push you toward buying. When that is the case, truly independent information becomes very valuable. SolarInfoPath has no ties to any solar installer, no lead generation forms, no arrangements with solar lenders or manufacturers, and no financial stake in any choice you make.
Our research uses public court filings, IRS and Treasury guidance under the Inflation Reduction Act, performance data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), state utility commission documents, and market research from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). When rules change, and in 2026, they are changing a lot, we update our information to reflect what is actually true right now.
If you signed a solar contract and something feels wrong, start with our guide to getting out of a fraudulent solar contract. If you are looking at solar for the first time, start with our state-by-state breakdown of whether solar makes financial sense where you live. If you are a developer working in the 2026 tax equity market, start with our Section 48 and partnership flip coverage.
No matter what your situation is, you will find honest information here, with no one waiting at the bottom of the page trying to collect your contact details.
Explore SolarInfoPath
Solar Lawsuits & Consumer Rights: Active class action lawsuits, state attorney general actions, and your legal options after a bad solar contract.
Solar Finance & Tax Credits: Section 48 ITC, PPAs, partnership flips, REAP grants, and commercial loan sizing explained in plain language.
Solar Cost & Savings Data: Average system costs, utility rate analysis, net metering comparisons, and honest payback timelines.
About SolarInfoPath: Who we are, how we do our research, and why we built an independent solar information platform.
Important disclaimer: SolarInfoPath is a research and educational platform. We are not a law firm, a financial advisor, or a tax professional. Everything on this site is for learning purposes only. It is not legal, financial, or tax advice. Please talk to a qualified professional before making any investment or legal decisions.