FindSolar.caMost Canadian solar companies are legitimate trades doing careful work. The minority who are not have refined a small set of tactics that repeat from coast to coast, and every one of them is recognizable once named. Here are the twelve, grouped by where in the pitch they appear. One is a caution; two or three in the same conversation is your exit.
Red flags in the pitch
One: government-affiliation theatre, callers or door-knockers implying they are from a program, your utility or a ministry. Verify any program claim yourself on the official page, which is what our rebates page links for every live program. Two: the disappearing bill, since fixed charges survive any array and no honest bill hits zero. Three: the expiring same-day discount, because real programs have published deadlines and real prices survive a night's sleep. Four: free solar, a phrase that always means financing wearing a costume. Five: a savings guarantee no document supports.
Red flags in the numbers
Six: a production estimate far above independent benchmarks for your roof, which our verification guide exposes in ten minutes. Seven: a financed price higher than the cash price for the same system, the signature of dealer fees buried in hardware. Eight: a zero-percent loan whose total of payments quietly exceeds the cash price by thousands. Nine: a price per watt wildly below the field, which is how projects end up unfinished or uninspected.
Red flags in the contract
Ten: a large non-refundable deposit before utility approval even exists. Eleven: equipment described as premium or Tier 1 with free substitution rights instead of exact make and model. Twelve: missing basics, no cancellation terms, no approval contingency, no written workmanship warranty. A legitimate contract names the hardware, sequences payment to progress, and survives your lawyer reading it slowly.
The two-step verification that defeats all twelve
First, never buy in the visit where you were pitched: every tactic above depends on speed, and none survives a week of daylight. Second, verify independently: the program on its official page, the production estimate against government data, the company through the comparison process, and the contract through your own reading. Pressure is the product being sold when the panels cannot carry the pitch alone.
Questions homeowners ask
How can I tell if a solar rebate website or salesperson is legitimate?
Verify the program yourself at the official government or utility page, reached through your own search, never through the salesperson's link or QR code. Our rebates page links every live program's official source with a verification date. Legitimate programs survive independent checking; theatrical ones evaporate.
Is "your power bill will disappear" a realistic solar claim?
No. Fixed connection and delivery charges survive any array, winter production is a fraction of summer, and export rules cap what surplus earns. A well-sized system shrinks bills impressively; a zero bill is a pitch, not an outcome, and the person promising it knows which.
Why is a same-day discount or expiring government rebate a red flag?
Because real programs publish real deadlines you can confirm on the official page, and real prices survive a week of thought. Manufactured urgency exists to prevent the comparison shopping that would kill the deal. Any discount that dies when the salesperson leaves the driveway was never a discount.
Can a 0% or low-interest solar loan still be expensive?
Easily: dealer fees get buried in a financed system price that exceeds the cash price, sometimes by thousands. The advertised rate applies to an inflated principal. Compare the financed total of payments against the same installer's cash price; the gap is your real cost of borrowing, whatever the rate says.
What should never be missing from a solar contract?
Exact equipment makes and models, system size in kW, total price, what the scope includes, all warranty terms, cancellation rights, an approval contingency, and a payment schedule tied to progress rather than signatures. A contract missing any of these is not incomplete; it is designed.
What should I do if a salesperson claims they work with the government or my utility?
End the conversation and verify through the agency or utility's own published contact channels, found by you, not provided by them. Governments and utilities do not sell panels door to door. If the claim were true, it would survive your independent call; it almost never has to.