Solar Sales Disclosure Laws: What Six States Require Before a Homeowner Signs

The six laws share a structure even though the details differ. Each names what must be disclosed, most set a minimum type size, several require the customer to acknowledge particular items separately, and each gives a right to cancel that the contract must describe.

The subject matter is consistent too. The disclosures concern the total cost over the life of the agreement, who installs and maintains the system, what the warranties cover, how any savings figure was calculated, and whether the agreement can be transferred to a third party.

This article describes what each statute or agency page says. It is not legal advice and does not say which rules apply to a particular sale. Definitions and exemptions vary. California's section does not apply to a system installed as a standard feature on new construction, and Florida's rescission clause has an exception for certain solar communities.

Each row was written from the source listed. For California and Texas the source is an agency page that quotes or summarizes the statute. For the other four it is the statute text on the legislature's site.

Laws in this area are being amended often. The research notes behind this article record an Arizona bill, SB 1419, reported as signed and described by an industry source as simplifying that state's savings disclosures. The Arizona text used here is the version on the legislature's site on the day it was opened, and it may already reflect that change or not.

Arizona requires a provision, separately acknowledged, granting the right to rescind 'for a period of not less than three business days after the agreement is signed by the buyer or lessee and before the distributed energy generation system is installed'. Florida requires a provision notifying the buyer or lessee of the right to rescind for at least three business days after signing.

Nevada sets the deadline by age. A purchaser, lessee or host customer under 60 may cancel by midnight of the third business day after signing. For a person aged 60 or older the cover page refers to ten business days. Notice can be delivered, mailed or sent by email to the address on the cover page.

Rhode Island's statute says the customer may cancel or rescind within seven days of entering the agreement. The notice wording the statute prescribes refers to seven business days and then to midnight seven days after signing, excluding Sundays and holidays without regular mail. A seller counting the days in Rhode Island should read section 5-93-11 closely. If the customer cancels, the retailer has five business days to return all payments, and failure to do so exposes it to treble damages and attorney fees.

Texas regulators summarize the Residential Solar Retailer Regulatory Act as requiring that sales and lease contracts 'provide a five-day right-to-cancel the transaction' from 1 September 2025. California's cover page must state the consumer's right to the applicable cancellation period under section 7159 of the Business and Professions Code.

Florida's list is a useful template because it is long and specific. The written statement must include the name and contractor license number of the installer and of any separate maintenance provider, whether the system is being purchased or leased, the total cost including interest and fees, a payment schedule, each tax incentive relied on in setting the price, and a description of the assumptions behind any savings estimate. If savings estimates are given, it must say that future electric utility rates are estimates only.

Arizona requires several items in bold that the customer must initial: the total purchase price or total cost over the life of the agreement, any interest and fees, and warranty periods for major components. It also requires a statement in bold capital letters that utility rates and rate structures are subject to change and that projected savings are therefore subject to change. A sales presentation that suggests financial savings must substantiate the method used to calculate them.

Rhode Island's form must carry two capital-letter statements next to any savings estimate. One begins 'THIS IS AN ESTIMATE' and says actual savings, if any, may vary. The other says tax and other incentives are subject to change or termination. The form must also state that no employee or representative is authorized to make any promise not contained in the disclosure form, and that the retailer is not affiliated with any utility company or government agency.

California's cover page is shorter by design. It must show the total cost and payments for the system including financing costs, how and to whom to complain, and the cancellation right. The Board publishes a longer supporting document covering matters such as how production was calculated and what a lease or financing terms mean if the home is sold. The contract and the disclosure must be written in the language principally used in the sales presentation.

Rhode Island's chapter says all solar retailers selling, leasing or soliciting residential solar energy systems 'shall register with the department and shall renew such registration annually'. The application must include evidence of financial responsibility and a list of all representatives who solicit or sell on the retailer's behalf. The department may suspend or revoke a registration or levy an administrative penalty of up to $5,000 per violation, including for operating without a current registration.

Texas regulators say that from 1 September 2026 individuals selling or leasing most residential solar energy systems, and the companies they work for, must obtain a registration from the Department of Licensing and Regulation. Licensed electrical contractors and their employees are exempt from registration and insurance requirements but must follow most other provisions, including the required contract terms and the right to cancel. The sale or lease agreement must provide that installation will be performed by a licensed electrical contractor and must name that contractor and its license number.

The research notes record a report that enforcement of a Texas disclosure form was delayed to 1 November 2026. That detail came from a search summary and was not confirmed on the Department's page.

Nevada's statute requires a solar installation company to confirm verbally, in person or by telephone or videoconference, the identity of the purchaser or host customer, to communicate the information on the cover page, and to confirm that the customer understands it. The communication must be recorded, and it must take place at the time the agreement is executed or within 48 hours after.

Two consequences are attached. The company 'shall not commence the installation of any distributed generation system under an agreement until the recording required pursuant to this section has been made'. And the recording must be kept for at least five years after the final inspection of the system.

The cover page for a lease must tell the customer about the recording requirement and that, before installation, they will have the chance to confirm that no promises were made other than what the agreement contains. Nevada is the clearest example in this set of a state asking for proof of what the customer was told, beyond a signature.

Nevada is the most direct. If a solar installation company 'knowingly fails to comply with any requirement' of the sections, including by failing to include a required disclosure or knowingly failing to maintain the recording, 'the agreement is voidable by the purchaser, lessee or host customer'. A failure to comply is also a deceptive trade practice, and a violation constitutes consumer fraud under Nevada law.

Arizona makes an agreement with material blank spaces voidable at the buyer's or lessee's option until the system is installed. Rhode Island pairs administrative penalties of up to $5,000 per violation with treble damages where a retailer does not refund a customer who cancelled, and its chapter includes a section on a private right of action. Texas regulators note that even exempt electrical contractors may be subject to disciplinary action for violating the Act or program rules.

For a seller, the cost of a missing disclosure can be the contract itself after equipment has been ordered or installed. The record of what was given, and when, is what decides that argument.

The research notes, drawing on a June 2026 Mayer Brown article and an industry summary from Aurora Solar, record a Colorado law applying to solar leases and power purchase agreements from 1 July 2026, Virginia rules effective 1 January 2027, a Connecticut requirement to give a state brochure at the point of sale, and pending bills in Utah and Massachusetts. The notes mark these as snippets from secondary sources.

A search for this article also found a 2025 Utah bill amending that state's residential solar chapter. Its text could not be read in a usable form, so Utah is left out of the tables.

An absence from this article means only that the state was not researched. Federal rules on door-to-door sales and on financing disclosures were also outside its scope.

Every remedy described above turns on what the customer received and when. The statutes also set formatting rules that are easy to break when a template is edited. The list below follows from the six laws. It is a record-keeping list and does not say which law governs a sale.

• The state, the customer's name and, in Nevada, whether the customer is 60 or older, since the cancellation period depends on it.
• The version of the disclosure form or cover page used, with its type size and the state form it was based on.
• The date and time the disclosure was delivered, by hard copy or email, and to whom.
• Each separately acknowledged or initialed item, with the time of acknowledgment.
• The savings estimate shown, with the rate, production and incentive assumptions behind it.
• The last day of the cancellation period, counted in business or calendar days as that statute says.
• Any cancellation notice, how it arrived, and the date payments were returned.
• In Nevada, the recording of the verbal confirmation and the date installation began.
• The registration or contractor license numbers named in the agreement.