Solar Buyer Beware: Solar Articles: Eco20/20

Solar Buyer Beware

My experience in the Florida solar energy business is that most contractors fail to apply for and receive permits.

While we were exhibiting at a Miami 'Green' expo last week, a woman came to our booth and exclaimed that she had a solar hot water system installed in her Key Biscayne house last August.

I asked her if she had received her Florida Solar rebate [$500]. She replied not yet.

I then asked if her solar contractor ever showed her a permit for installation.

She said no, that her contractor said to not worry. I then informed her, "Don't shoot the messenger. Without a permit, your system was illegally installed: your warranties on your system are voided, your homeowners' insurance is voided if anything leaks, you will never receive the Florida Solar rebate and you will have to take the system down if you ever re-sell your house."

BTW, this woman is a U of M Professor of marine biology. She trusted her 'solar contractor,' just like dozens of other good and unsuspecting homeowners in the Miami area:

I have a friend who is about to move his family with three children into a brand new house. He informed me that he had given a down payment to a local contractor for a new solar hot water system. I asked my friend if the contractor had received a permit from the Hollywood officials. He replied no, but that his contractor had submitted the lowest bid.

A Broward county client informed me that when he asked a potential contractor about permits for solar hot water, photovoltaics and solar pool heat for his house, the contractor replied, "98% of my clients do not receive permits." The scary part is that this contractor has been in the solar business for the past eighteen years.

In another event, we were looking in advance for the proper procedures to file for permits at the Fort Lauderdale Building and Zoning department for a client's residence on the intracoastal waterway. When I remarked to the city official that we are aware of many unpermitted solar installations in his city, he replied, "There are lots of unpermitted construction work in this city. There are only a few inspectors."

Moral of the story: Everyone has to insist on seeing the permits before any solar work has begun on your house or commercial building.

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