Texas Mandates State Registration and Five-Day Cancellation Windows for Residential Solar Sales

Starting September 1, 2026, any salesperson knocking on a Texas door to sell or lease residential solar panels must be formally registered with the state. Driven by an 818 percent surge in solar-related consumer complaints filed with the Texas Attorney General between 2018 and 2023, the final provisions of Texas Senate Bill 1036 are now officially in force. The law shifts the state's oversight from merely regulating the electricians who install the panels to actively policing the sales teams who pitch them, giving the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) the power to penalize deceptive operators.[3][4]

The new registration requirement gives homeowners a direct way to verify who they are dealing with. Under the Residential Solar Retailer Regulatory Act, passed by the 89th Texas Legislature in 2025, solar businesses must maintain liability insurance, actively supervise their sales force, and provide their TDLR registration number upon request. "We heard story after story of people in their 80s with $100,000 in solar panel loans," said Ann Baddour of the nonprofit Texas Appleseed, describing the financial devastation caused by undisclosed financing terms and forged signatures that the law aims to stop.[3][5]

The September 2026 rollout represents the enforcement phase of a two-part legislative effort. The core consumer protections actually took effect one year earlier, on September 1, 2025. Those initial rules established a mandatory five-business-day cancellation window, allowing homeowners who purchase or lease a residential solar system to back out without penalty. If a contract is canceled within that window, any linked financing must automatically terminate as well, ensuring buyers are not left holding a loan for a canceled project.[1][2][5]

The law also establishes strict boundaries for what salespeople can say at the door. It explicitly bans deceptive claims, such as falsely implying an affiliation with a local public utility or a government agency. Sales representatives are prohibited from ignoring posted "no soliciting" signs and from arranging unauthorized installations. Retailers who violate these rules now face administrative penalties, forced contract cancellations, mandated refunds, and enhanced fines if the victim is 65 years of age or older.[2][4][5]

For homeowners who already have solar panels on their roofs, the new law does not rewrite existing contracts. The TDLR registration and disclosure requirements apply strictly to sales conducted from September 1, 2026, onward. However, contracts signed before this date are still governed by the broader Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. On April 3, 2026, the Texas Attorney General issued Civil Investigative Demands to four residential solar companies, citing more than 100 consumer complaints and signaling that the state is actively pursuing past fraud under existing statutes.[1][4]

The regulatory framework exempts licensed electrical contractors from the new solar retailer registration, provided they directly employ their salespeople. However, those contractors must still comply with the law's contract requirements, including the five-day cancellation period and mandatory plain-language disclosures. Every solar sale or lease agreement in Texas must now conspicuously state the name and license number of the electrical contractor who will perform the installation, eliminating the practice of selling a system without a secured installer.[2][4]

The accountability provisions are designed to clean up a market that expanded faster than its guardrails. Texas rooftop solar installations grew from approximately 1,300 systems in 2010 to nearly 270,000 by 2023. By requiring background checks, liability insurance, and formal registration, the state aims to level the playing field for ethical solar businesses that have been undercut by competitors making false promises.[3][4]

Homeowners approached by solar salespeople should immediately ask for the representative's TDLR registration number. If a salesperson cannot produce a valid state registration, they are operating illegally. The deciding factor for any homeowner feeling pressured is the contract itself: the five-day cancellation window must be clearly disclosed in writing, and any omission of that disclosure is a direct violation of the new Texas standard.[1][2]