How to Cancel a Solar Contract (Cooling-Off Rules and a Template Letter)

If you signed a solar contract at home, you can usually cancel it for any reason until midnight of the third business day after you signed, under the federal FTC Cooling-Off Rule. Some states give more time, such as California’s five business days for buyers 65 and older. Cancel in writing, send it in a way you can prove, and keep copies. If you’re past the deadline, you still have options, but they’re narrower, so act today.

Use our solar contract cancellation tool to count your deadline, then follow the steps below.

The federal Cooling-Off Rule in plain English

The FTC’s Cooling-Off Rule (16 CFR Part 429) applies to most sales, leases and rentals of consumer goods or services of $25 or more made at your home, and $130 or more at temporary locations such as a booth at a fair or a hotel room (FTC rule page). Solar contracts signed at the kitchen table generally fall under it.

Key points:

• Deadline: midnight of the third business day after the sale.
• Business days: Monday through Saturday. Sundays and federal holidays don’t count.
• No reason needed. You don’t have to explain why you’re cancelling.
• Seller’s duties at the sale: tell you about your right to cancel, give you a copy of the contract with the date and the seller’s name and address, and give you two copies of a cancellation form.
• After you cancel: the seller generally has 10 days to refund your money, return any papers you signed (such as a promissory note), and tell you whether it will pick up anything it left at your home.
• Mailing counts when sent. If you mail your cancellation, it’s generally enough that it’s postmarked by the deadline. Using certified mail gives you proof.

Counting the days

You signed on	Usually last day to cancel (by midnight)
Monday	Thursday
Tuesday	Friday
Wednesday	Saturday
Thursday	Monday
Friday	Tuesday
Saturday	Wednesday

Push the date back one day for each federal holiday that falls in the window. If you’re unsure, treat the earliest possible date as your deadline.

What the rule doesn’t cover

The rule doesn’t apply to sales made entirely online, by mail or by phone, or to sales at the seller’s permanent place of business. It also has narrow exceptions, such as emergency repairs you request and waive in writing. A rooftop solar system is not an emergency repair. If a salesperson asks you to sign a waiver of your cancellation rights, that’s a red flag. See cooling-off waiver.

State rules can give you more time

States can add protections on top of the federal rule. Examples from our research:

• California: home solicitation contracts can be cancelled within three business days, and buyers 65 and older get five business days. Work isn’t supposed to start during that period. Solar contracts must also be in the language used during the sales negotiation, and investor-owned utility customers must receive a standardized Solar Energy System Disclosure Document (CPUC solar consumer protection guide).
• Texas, Arizona, Nevada and Utah require standardized written solar disclosures that spell out price, financing, ownership and savings assumptions. These help you spot problems during the window. We haven’t verified a longer general cancellation period in these states, so assume three business days unless your contract or state law says otherwise.

State laws change and many have details we can’t cover here, such as special rules for seniors, for contracts in other languages, or for contracts where the seller didn’t give proper notice. Check your state attorney general’s consumer protection page and your state page before assuming you only have three days.

Your contract may also give you its own cancellation period, sometimes longer than the law requires. Read the “Notice of Cancellation” or “Right to Cancel” section.

How to cancel, step by step

1. Find your documents. Look for the contract, any loan or lease agreement, and the cancellation form. Note the date and time you signed.
2. Work out your deadline with the table above or our cancellation tool.
3. Fill out the cancellation form if you have one: sign and date it. If you don’t have one, write a letter. You can do both.
4. Send it in a way you can prove. Certified mail with return receipt is best. Also email it to the company if you have an address, and keep the sent email. Some contracts list a specific address or email for cancellations, so use that one.
5. Notify the lender too if there’s a loan or financing company. Send them a copy so they don’t fund the loan.
6. Keep copies of everything, including photos of the envelope and the postal receipt.
7. Tell the company not to start work. If anyone shows up to install, say you’ve cancelled and show them your copy. Don’t let them begin.
8. Follow up. If you haven’t received a refund and confirmation within 10 days, contact the company in writing and file complaints (see below).

A phone call by itself is not a good way to cancel. Reps sometimes say “no problem” on the phone and nothing gets processed.

Template cancellation letter

Copy this, fill in the brackets, sign it, and keep a copy.

[Your full name] [Your street address, city, state, ZIP] [Your phone and email] [Date]

[Company legal name, as written on the contract] [Company address from the contract or cancellation form]

Re: Notice of cancellation, contract dated [date signed], [contract or account number if any], for a solar energy system at [your address]

I am cancelling the contract referenced above, effective immediately. This notice is given under the FTC Cooling-Off Rule (16 CFR Part 429) and any applicable state law, and under any cancellation terms in the contract.

This cancellation applies to the contract and to any related agreements, including any loan, lease, power purchase agreement, financing application, or utility or interconnection application submitted in my name.

Please do not begin any work at my property. Please refund all payments within the time required by law, return or destroy any documents I signed, withdraw any applications submitted on my behalf, and confirm the cancellation to me in writing.

Sincerely, [Signature] [Printed name] [Names and signatures of any co-signers]

Send a copy, with a short cover note, to any lender or financing company named in your paperwork.

Bottom line: Cancel first, decide later. If you’re unsure whether you want the system, cancelling within the window costs you nothing. A good installer will happily re-quote you after you’ve compared offers.

If you’re past the cancellation window

Missing the deadline doesn’t always mean you’re stuck. Look at these, roughly in order.

1. Check whether the window ever started

If the seller didn’t give you the required cancellation notice and forms, that’s a violation of the federal rule, and in many states your right to cancel may extend until proper notice is given. Rules vary by state, so ask your state attorney general’s office or a consumer attorney.

2. Read the contract’s own terms

Many solar contracts let you cancel before installation or before permits are pulled, sometimes with a fee. Some lease and PPA contracts have conditions that let you exit if the installer can’t meet certain milestones. Look for words like “termination,” “cancellation” and “conditions precedent.”

3. Look at the loan: rescission rights on home-secured credit

Under the federal Truth in Lending Act, when a loan is secured by your principal home (for example, a home equity loan or HELOC used for solar), you generally have a right to rescind, or cancel, the loan until midnight of the third business day after the latest of: signing, receiving the required disclosures, or receiving the notice of your right to rescind. If the lender didn’t provide those disclosures or the notice properly, the rescission right can last much longer, in some cases up to three years.

Many solar loans are unsecured, or secured only by the equipment itself, and may not carry this right. Whether a particular solar loan counts as secured by your home is a legal question that depends on the loan documents. Ask the lender in writing whether your loan includes a security interest in your home and for a copy of any notice of right to rescind, then talk to a consumer attorney or legal aid office if it does.

Also check whether your loan includes the FTC “Holder Rule” notice. Many consumer loans arranged through a seller must include language that lets you raise claims against the seller with the lender, generally up to the amount you’ve paid. That can matter if the seller misled you or failed to perform.

4. Document misrepresentation

If you were told things that weren’t true, such as a 30% tax credit on a 2026 purchase, a $0 electric bill, or that a lease was a purchase, write down exactly what was said, when and by whom. Collect proposals, texts and emails. Misrepresentation can give you grounds to void a contract under state consumer protection laws, separate from cooling-off rules. Our sales claim checker can help you identify which claims were false.

5. File complaints

Where	Best for
Your state attorney general	Deceptive sales, failure to honor cancellation
ReportFraud.ftc.gov	Cooling-Off Rule violations, misrepresentation
CFPB complaint portal	Loan problems, dealer fees, a lender that won’t stop funding
State contractor licensing board	Unlicensed sellers, abandoned or poor work
State public utility commission	Some states handle solar complaints or required disclosures

Lenders and installers often respond faster once a regulator forwards a complaint.

6. Don’t just stop paying

Even if the deal was unfair, stopping loan payments without a plan can damage your credit and lead to collections. Talk to a consumer attorney or legal aid office before you stop paying. Many offer free consultations.

What if work has already started?

Some sellers deliver equipment or start work fast to make cancelling feel pointless. Starting work early doesn’t erase your right to cancel within the window, and California explicitly bars starting work during its period. If panels are already on your roof and you’re still within the window, cancel in writing anyway and ask the seller to remove the equipment and repair any roof penetrations. If you’re past the window, your leverage comes from the contract terms and any misrepresentation, so get legal advice.

Before you sign the next one

If you’re cancelling to compare offers, that’s smart. Get two or three written quotes with the cash price, system size, price per watt and model numbers, then compare them with our quote comparison tool. Read how to compare solar quotes and check any loan with the dealer fee calculator. For the bigger picture on deceptive tactics, see our solar scams guide.