Solcius Solar Lawsuit

[Carlito Austin]

Cuencais one of nearly two dozen plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit that accuses New Jersey-based panel installation company Vision Solar of pressuring customers to pay for a product that failed to live up to salespeople's promises.

According to the lawsuit, Vision Solar would often fail to obtain the proper permits before installing the panels, leaving homeowners paying for a system that wasn't connected to the power grid. Other times, salespeople would allegedly mislead customers about the potential savings.

"This is thousands of people who have been charged for panels that Vision Solar knows are not functioning," said Ian Sloss, a partner at Silver Golub & Teitell, the firm representing the plaintiffs. "We just view the conduct as very egregious."

"We will continue to work with each of them, and anyone else, who files a claim until their projects are fully operational and they are satisfied or through their request for cancellation," Andelman said in an emailed statement.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey on Monday, although the company is accused of deceptive practices affecting homeowners in five additional states: Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.

To convince homeowners to sign, salespeople are accused of knowingly misrepresenting customers' eligibility for federal tax credits. Salespeople would also falsely claim that Vision Solar would obtain the proper permits before installing panels, according to the lawsuit.

McClelland said he was promised an $8,600 tax credit and a $54 monthly payment from New Jersey for purchasing the solar panels. Salespeople told him the system would cover all of his electric bills and ultimately pay for itself with a $37 monthly rate, and McClelland said the company promised to upgrade his electrical system.

These claims were false, according to the lawsuit. McClelland said he has not received a solar tax credit, has yet to get an electrical system upgrade and is required to pay up to $123 per month in solar panel payments.

Quantz, 61, said the salesperson told her the panels would generate enough power to offset her electricity usage. She was also told that she would be allowed to take the panels with her if she moved out of her house, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit says Quantz's solar panels sat on her roof for about 10 months before they were hooked up to the grid. By then, she said she had learned that much of Vision Solar's promises were not true.

Instead of saving money, Quantz had to pay her power company a monthly fee for having solar panels, despite the fact that they were not operational because of the lack of permits. Quantz also said she had to back out of a deal to sell her house because Vision Solar failed to sign an affidavit that would allow Quantz to close the permit on the panels and sell her home.

A March 7 news release from Vision Solar said the company received a $20 million investment that will lead to "revolutionary changes" in its business model and allow it to get customers' solar panels installed and running faster.

"This injection gives us the shot in the arm we need to move with mental agility as we address the needs of customers and other solar companies nationwide," Vision Solar's Chief Revenue Officer Mike Eden said in a release.

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Tong's lawsuit accuses Vision Solar of pressuring consumers into loans for solar panels they could not afford and which, in some cases, were never activated. It also claims that the company did work without applying for or obtaining necessary permits, leaving consumers with systems that could not be connected to the grid as promised.

Vision Solar began offering its services as a registered Home Improvement Contractor installing residential solar systems in Dec. 2020, according to officials. Since Aug. 2021, the Office of the Attorney General has received 14 complaints.

"We looked forward to taking our case all the way to trial," Tong wrote Wednesday. "Unfortunately, Vision collapsed before that could happen. But we will continue to fight for Connecticut consumers and to hold Vision accountable for its illegal and unfair actions."

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