Scams becoming prominent as people take advantage of Alberta's rooftop solar boom

Surging demand for rooftop solar in Alberta is sparking what advocates call a rise in shady sales tactics by those seeking to cash in on the boom.

With its sunny skies and deregulated power market, Alberta has become a hotbed of activity for Canada's residential solar industry.

In Calgary alone, the number of approved micro-generation applications processed annually by city-owned utility Enmax has increased by nearly 600 per cent since 2020.

The growing demand is being driven by a number of factors, including soaring electricity rates in the province that are driving many Albertans to look into solar as a way to offset their utility bills.

The federal government's Greener Homes incentive program has also helped to drive interest through its generous offering of grants and loans for home solar installations.

With the rapid market growth has come an influx in companies operating in the sector. Where just a few years ago there were only a handful of professional solar installers in Alberta, there are now more than 100.

There are also many companies offering a range of other solar-related services including project management, system maintenance, financing and retail.

But as the number of solar panels on rooftops in the Western province has blossomed, so have consumer complaints.

In late July, for example, the Town of Nanton in southern Alberta warned residents to watch out for a potential scam, saying the RCMP told them someone had been knocking on doors falsely claiming to be a representative of utility company FortisAlberta.

The person was allegedly trying to sell rooftop solar installations, but FortisAlberta doesn't sell solar.

It's not hard to find other stories of disreputable business practices by companies operating within the young industry.

Camrose resident Wilma VandeLaak said she recently spent months trying to get out of a contract she felt pressured to sign during a home visit by an aggressive salesperson.

"I had immediate buyers' remorse I'm quite embarrassed that I got sucked in so easily," VandeLaak said.

"But the thing is, they just make you feel like your house is ideal for solar. And they were very pushy. They wanted that signature."

To be clear, bad experiences are not the norm. Feedback in Facebook groups and community forums indicates the bulk of homeowners who purchase rooftop solar are pleased with their decision, and often recommend the company they worked with to others.

But Heather MacKenzie, executive director of Solar Alberta a community of solar professionals and enthusiasts that aims to both advocate for the industry and educate the public acknowledged she has also heard complaints, stemming from overly aggressive door-to-door salespeople to false advertising to outright fraud.

Solar Alberta has its own code of conduct with respect to things like advertising and door-to-door sales tactics. But membership is voluntary, so the organization has no way to discipline companies that choose to operate outside its standards.

"There are 150 good practitioners around the province," MacKenzie said. "But you have one or two bad actors who are primarily non-members who are souring things for 150 good actors."

According to the Alberta government, the province's consumer investigations unit has noticed a recent "uptick in complaints received about companies that sell products and services door-to-door related to solar energy."

Most of these complaints likely stem from consumers who have been pressured at the door to immediately sign a contract that they then can't get out of, or from those who have been promised too-good-to-be-true rates of return, said Greg Sauer, vice-president of business development for SkyFire Energy, Calgary's largest and most established solar installation company.

Sauer said not every home is a good candidate for residential solar but you'd never know it based on the sales pitch some companies are using on vulnerable homeowners.

"One customer [I'm aware of] was sold essentially a north-facing solar system. The economics were terrible," Sauer said, adding he urges anyone considering solar to get multiple quotes and to be wary of lines like "you will never again have to pay an electricity bill."

In 2017, Alberta banned the door-to-door sales of furnaces, hot water tanks and other related energy products in response to complaints by homeowners about fraudulent activities and misleading sales tactics.

Sauer said he'd like to see that ban extended to residential solar to protect consumers.

But Jordan Forsythe whose solar installation company Boreal Connected Homes Ltd. uses door-to-door sales to attract new customers said he believes that wouldn't be fair to the vast majority of honest players who are simply trying to build a business in a competitive field.

"We had a customer last week who put up a social media post and said she was very grateful that we showed up at her door As long as you're being legal and ethical, I don't see the problem," said Forsythe.

One solution, said Brian Scott of Calgary-based solar installer Solar Dev, could be for the province to grant regulatory authority to Solar Alberta so that it can take action to enforce stronger rules within the industry.

In the meantime, he said, he is fearful of the reputational damage a few bad actors could be doing to his industry. He worries that Alberta could be following in the footsteps of certain U.S. jurisdictions, where a rooftop solar "gold rush" has been followed by a wave of solar company bankruptcies and consumer lawsuits.

"You can sense the distrust [from customers], because there's more and more of it going around," Scott said. "When you're talking to potential clients, you can feel it."