More and more homeowners across the country are turning to solar energy to keep the lights on. As of 2024, 4.2 million single-family homes are equipped with solar installations out of the 84.69 million eligible homes. The switch can lead to some major savings for the average homeowner — anywhere from $28,000 - $120,000 over the lifespan of a solar panel system, depending on an area’s electricity costs.
According to the President of Gallup Solar Bill Bright, the average Gallup citizen pays over $100 a month in electrical bills. He said that with a solar panel, the electrical bill can go down to about $80 a month. A household can save an average of $20,000 over the lifespan of a solar panel system. But Bright also wants people to know that there are some risks when it comes to installing solar panels.
Gallup Solar and Bright recently learned of a scam going on around the McKinley County community where salespeople are showing up to peoples’ doorsteps and encouraging them to go solar and allow a company to install solar panels.
The solar panels work fine and provide electricity to the homes, but the homeowners eventually learn one major flaw: they’re not seeing a reduction in their electricity bill, which is one of the perks of installing solar panels for a homeowner.
“It’s unfortunately happening across the U.S,” Bright said. “I”ve been hearing news about it. [It’s] corruption, which is rampant in our country with retailers and contractors unfortunately. And they’ve moved into the solar industry.”
When an electrician installs a solar panel system at a house or business, they are supposed to fill out a permit application and send it to the city. Without that application, the city can’t give the homeowner or business a special meter that tracks how much energy the panels are producing and using
Soon after the installers have been paid and leave, the home and business owners realize something is amiss when they look at their electrical bills and don’t notice any changes.
BETHANY CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH GETS SCAMMED
Rick Kruis knows what Bright is talking about all too well.
He is a deacon at the Bethany Christian Reformed Church, and in September he recommended that they put solar panels on the church’s parsonage, which is a house provided for the church’s clergy.
Kruis felt confident in the project because he’d had it done to his own home and he’d gotten solar panels put on the church.
“It’s sort of my ambition to be able to tell my grandchildren I did something for this climate crisis we have,” Kruis said. "I'm trying to promote solar anywhere I can.”
After a recommendation from a friend, Kruis checked out the company SunPower. He liked what he saw — the company allegedly had an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau and they were ranked the #1 residential solar panel installer in the country.
The project was eventually subcontracted out to a company called Jag Inc. And Kruis said that’s where things went wrong.
“I was duped because I had so much confidence in the supposed parent company that I took things for granted,” Kruis said.
The church signed a contract with Jag in September, and they came out and began the project in early October. Kruis said they wrapped it up by the end of that month.
The contractors left, and everything seemed to be fine. Until Kruis was alerted to the problem with the parsonage’s electric bill: nothing had changed. It didn’t take Kruis long to realize the contractors hadn’t submitted a permit to the city.
“It only costs $160 [to submit the permit], but I think maybe the permitting process was intimidating to them,” Kruis said.
Kruis said he called SunPower and Jag Inc., and at first the representatives were responsive and kind. But they weren’t forthcoming about finalizing the permit.
A SunPower representative eventually emailed Kruis and told him that Jag Inc. actually doesn’t have a contract with them, they merely supply the company with the necessary equipment.
Kruise eventually realized he needed to get another entity involved, so he had the New Mexico State Electrical Inspectors come out and take a look at the parsonage.
The inspector confirmed that Jag Inc. had installed the solar panels correctly.
But that still didn’t solve the permit problem.
The church is still paying full price for electricity because the city can’t inspect the solar panel without a permit.
Kruis said he may have a solution though: he has an electrician friend who has helped him with permits in the past. He said his friend isn’t a big fan of permits either, but they have a system where Kruis fills the paperwork out and then his friend files it under his LLC.
Church members donated a total of $19,000 to get this project completed, and now Kruis says he feels embarrassed for even suggesting the project.
THE PROBLEM CLOSE TO HOME
Unfortunately, Larry Foster knows the type of pain Kruis is going through.
About 18 months ago, a man came knocking on Foster’s door and told him about the benefits of solar energy, specifically explaining that he could save a lot of money on his electrical bills. Foster said he knew the man and his family, so there was a sense of trust there. He went ahead and signed a contract with a company called GoodLeap LLC, which is based out of Oregon.
However, GoodLeapLLC is just the middleman. They set Foster up with a plan for $15,000 and put him in contact with a New Mexico company called My Solar. My Solar gets their equipment from Add on Electric. Once they had the equipment they came out to Foster’s house and began the work.
But Foster soon realized they didn’t do everything they were supposed to, and similar to Kruis, they left without filing a permit with the city.
Foster said that during this 18-month period, he was still paying his full electrical bill, which averaged about $150 a month. Foster estimated that he’d lost almost $3,000 paying an overpriced electrical bill when he technically had solar power capability.
THE LEGITIMACY OF A BUSINESS
The Sun tried to track down representatives from both Add on Electric and SunPower. Nobody from SunPower responded to multiple emails or calls, and Add on Electric’s website says it’s currently in “Maintenance mode” and that it will be available soon. There is no contact information listed on the website in its current state.
A representative from the New Mexico and Southern Colorado Bureau of Better Business said Add on Electric is no longer accredited with the non-profit organization.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Gallup Solar is trying to get the word out about this scam.
When people call and tell them they got scammed, the non-profit organization tells them that the first thing they should do is call the company that installed the solar panels.
Bright gave some advice for anyone interested in putting solar panels up at their home or business. He suggested that people should do their research before signing a contract with any company.
“People should do their homework to check out a company before they sign any contract, just like they would any other contractor,” he said. “You want to get some testimonies from other people to see if they’re viable. You want to get some background [information] to see if they’re a legitimate company. Most of them are legitimate, but we have these few people who are doing this.”
As a non-profit, all Gallup Solar can really do is try to educate people. Bright said they’re trying to get young people interested in becoming solar engineers because right now there aren’t any in the local area.
“Unfortunately we don’t have any dedicated solar engineers in Gallup or the surrounding area,” he said. “They’re mostly coming from the Rio Grande corner, mostly from Albuquerque and Santa Fe. They’re coming over here and bringing their own electricians and doing a good job, but taking all the money out of our economy."
In an effort to keep money in the local economy, Gallup Solar offers free training to anyone interested in solar engineering. They then encourage those people to develop those skills even further and become solar contractors.
To learn more about Gallup Solar and their mission, visit gallupsolar.org.
By Molly Ann Howell
Managing Editor
