The script · screenshot this
Updated 09 Aug 2026 · Sourced to Public Law 119-21, IRC §25D and §48E
Start with three: Am I buying or leasing? Who claims the tax credit? What is the escalator, as a percentage? If they say you are buying and then mention a 30% federal credit, that is false in 2026 and the conversation is over. The remaining seven cover licensing, warranties, production, resale and the twenty-five-year total — the numbers that are rarely volunteered.
You do not need to understand solar to buy it safely. You need ten questions and the patience to wait for the answers. Screenshot this page and open it when someone is sitting across from you.
The first three do most of the work. If a rep clears those three cleanly, you are probably dealing with a real operator.
What a good answer sounds like: “You’re buying it, so there’s no federal credit — here’s what carries the math instead.” Or: “It’s a lease, we own it, we claim the credit, that’s why the payment is what it is.”
Red flag: Any version of “you’ll get the 30% tax credit” attached to a system you would own. That is false in 2026. End the conversation.
What a good answer sounds like: A direct answer naming who claims it and how it is priced in.
Red flag: Hedging, subject-changing, or “your accountant will sort it out.” They know or they do not.
What a good answer sounds like: A straight yes with an explanation of their safe-harbored inventory, or a straight no with what that means for timeline.
Red flag: Confusion about the date entirely. It is the most important deadline in their business right now.
What a good answer sounds like: A number. “2.9%” or “zero.”
Red flag: “A small annual adjustment,” or the number appearing only once you have already signed.
What a good answer sounds like: They pull it up on the spot. Every provider’s software produces this.
Red flag: “We just focus on the monthly.” That is the whole trick.
What a good answer sounds like: A number you can look up, and a clear answer about whether it is their crew or a partner.
Red flag: Vagueness about who holds the license. Many sales organizations are not the licensed installer — that can be fine, but you are entitled to know.
What a good answer sounds like: A kilowatt-hour figure, the assumptions behind it, and a written production guarantee if one exists.
Red flag: A savings percentage with no production number behind it.
What a good answer sounds like: Three distinct answers with terms and who backs each one.
Red flag: One blended “25-year warranty.” Those are three different promises from three different parties.
What a good answer sounds like: For a lease or PPA: the transfer or assumption terms, and the buyout price. For a purchase: it conveys.
Red flag: “It’s never been a problem.” Ask for the clause.
What a good answer sounds like: Specific program names, amounts and who files for them.
Red flag: “There are lots of incentives.” If they cannot name yours, they are not counting them accurately.
Ask them in order and let silence do the work. You are not being difficult — you are asking a company that wants a twenty-five-year relationship with your roof to answer basic questions about their own product.
The response matters more than the answers. A good rep is relieved that you are engaged and will happily go line by line. A bad one gets impatient, reframes the question, or tries to move you to signing. That reaction tells you more than anything on the proposal.
Not knowing something and saying so. “I don’t know, let me find out and call you back” is a good answer from a person who then calls you back. Confidently wrong is the problem, not honestly uncertain.
Am I buying this system or leasing it. If they say buying and then mention a 30% federal tax credit, that statement is false, because Section 25D ended for systems placed in service after 31 December 2025.
Ask for their license number in your state and look it up. Ask who physically performs the installation. Ask for the three warranties separately. Then check reviews under the exact legal entity name, not just the brand.
Yes. Ask each to price the same system both ways, owned and third-party, with twenty-five-year totals, so the proposals are actually comparable.
That is your answer. A company unwilling to state its escalator, its license number or its twenty-five-year total in writing is not a company to sign a twenty-five-year agreement with.
Tell me where you are and roughly what you pay. I come back with what is actually available in your utility territory, which structure fits, and what to watch for in the paperwork. No rep at your door.
If you sell solar
Every homeowner in your market is confused about the same thing at the same time, and almost nobody is explaining it on camera. Here is the whole argument, and what to do about it →