Residential solar companies face a myriad of state and federal laws and regulations that govern activities from advertisements to telephone calls to contracts. As part of SEIA's consumer protection efforts and as a service to the industry, this primer introduces readers to relevant consumer protection rules and topics that companies to need to be aware to stay compliant with the law and the SEIA Solar Business Code. The primer will be updated to include new topics and state specific guidance.

The heart of SEIA’s consumer protection work is the voluntary SEIA Solar Business Code. The Code was formally adopted by SEIA in 2015 and all SEIA member companies must abide by the Code. Many other non-members are choosing to follow its rules as well. The Code presents rules on advertising, marketing and consumer interactions and contracts, and reminds companies about state and federal laws and regulations.

To facilitate the growth of the industry, SEIA maintains and promotes standardized contracts for a variety of different solar transactions. Initially developed under the Solar Access to Public Capital (SAPC) working group led by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the following model contracts have been endorsed and modified by SEIA as a critical component of our consumer protection and cost reduction programs.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) adopted a new program for businesses and residential customers installing solar. This program, called Net Billing, replaces the existing Net Energy Metering 2.0 (“NEM 2.0”) program and only applies to new on-site solar systems (a.k.a., “behind the meter systems”) for commercial customers of PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E. This factsheet is designed to help commercial customers understand the high-level details of the new Net Billing program.

These streamlined statements are designed to help solar customers understand the terms and costs of a solar transaction - for a cash sale, lease or PPA. They are not intended to be a substitute for reading the contract, lease and other documents associated with a solar transaction.

This webpage provides an overview of the federal investment and production tax credits for businesses, nonprofits, and other entities that own solar facilities, including both photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) energy generation technologies.