Solar Contract Cancellation in New Jersey: Get Out of Your Solar Lease, PPA, or Loan

Often, yes, but how depends on where you are in the process. New Jersey gives you three business days to cancel a home improvement contract. After that, exit routes usually come from the contract itself or from how it was sold: misrepresented savings, undisclosed financing terms, missing disclosures, or an installer that closed. A free consultation with New Jersey Solar Exit starts with a review of your contract to see which of those routes apply to you.

The New Jersey three-day rule counts business days, and the clock starts when you receive a copy of the signed contract, not when you sign. If you were never given a complete copy, the clock may not have started. To cancel in time, send written notice by certified mail with return receipt, or deliver it in person, to the address in the contract. If you cancel inside the window, the refund is due within 30 days of the contractor receiving your notice. You can find the rules for home improvement contracts through the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs.

Your payment obligation usually doesn’t disappear, but your leverage can change. After the SunPower collapse in 2024 and the Sunnova and Mosaic Chapter 11 filings in June 2025, many New Jersey homeowners ended up with a new servicer and unclear warranty coverage. Keep every notice you receive about who now owns your contract, because the new owner or servicer may have different obligations than the original installer.

Yes. With a loan you own the system, and the lender is a separate company from the installer. That can matter a great deal. Under the FTC Holder Rule, a consumer credit contract can preserve claims you have against the seller, and in some cases those claims can be raised against the lender. A lease or PPA is a single contract with the company that owns the panels. Which type you have changes your strategy.

Don’t stop without advice. Missed payments on a solar loan or lease can trigger late fees, credit damage, collections, and in some cases a recorded lien on your property. Get a review first, so that if you do stop paying, you do it as a deliberate step in a plan.

It can. Many solar lenders and lease companies file a UCC-1 fixture filing with the county, and a few record other documents against the property. These filings are usually in the county clerk’s records, such as Bergen, Monmouth, Ocean, Camden, or Morris County. A title search will show what is recorded against your home, and you should know the answer before a refinance or sale.

Yes, but the lease usually has to be transferred to the buyer or paid off at closing. Buyers and their lenders often balk at a transfer, and the process takes time. Start early, because a lease transfer or payoff can hold up a closing, particularly on a Jersey Shore or North Jersey sale that is already on a tight timeline. If the contract doesn’t allow a clean transfer, an exit before listing is often easier.

Many New Jersey homeowners were told their electric bill would drop to near zero, or that the system would pay for itself. If the sales pitch didn’t match your actual PSE&G, JCP&L, Atlantic City Electric, or Rockland Electric bills, that gap may be a misrepresentation claim. The New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act can allow a successful consumer to recover treble damages plus attorney’s fees. Gather your pre-solar bills, post-solar bills, the original proposal, and any texts or emails from the salesperson.

Bring the signed contract, the proposal or sales documents, your loan or lease paperwork, 12 months of electric bills (before and after solar if you have them), and any emails, texts, or letters from the solar company or servicer. The more of the sales process you can show, the more precise the review will be.

Removal is usually negotiated, not automatic. The 2021 settlement between the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs and NRG Residential Solar Solutions is one example of a case where affected customers were offered free uninstallation. For homeowners, removal comes up as part of a negotiated exit, and roof repair after removal should be part of that discussion.

Document it now. Take dated photos, save every service ticket, and note every phone call. A roof leak after installation, a monitoring app that shows no production, or a system that was never activated can all strengthen your position. Report roof damage in writing as well, because verbal complaints are hard to prove later.

Sometimes it is, and we’d rather tell you that than push you out of a good deal. New Jersey still has strong net metering and the SuSI (Successor Solar Incentive) program managed by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. If the system produces as promised and your payments are fair, keeping it may be the right call. The homeowners who should look at exiting are those paying more than they were told, those with a bankrupt or absentee installer, and those facing a sale or refinance.

It depends on the contract type, how much is left on the term, and which exit route applies. A buyout can cost a large share of the remaining payments. Negotiated exits and claim-based exits can cost far less. We review your contract before quoting any figures, so you see the real options and not a generic number.

You can file a complaint with the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs(1-800-242-5846) and check the installer’s registration status on its website. Home improvement contractors must register with the Division, so a missing registration number is a red flag. For solar loan problems you can also file with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A complaint on record can also help support a later claim.

Not always. Many homeowners resolve a contract dispute through the contract’s own terms, a negotiated settlement, or agency complaints. A lawsuit in New Jersey Superior Court, or in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in Newark, Trenton, or Camden, is a bigger step. Our consultation helps you decide whether your situation needs one. We are not a law firm, and this site does not provide legal advice.

We handle exits across the major lease, PPA, and loan providers, including Sunrun, SunPower, Sunnova, Tesla and SolarCity, Vivint Solar, Freedom Forever, and Momentum Solar, along with finance companies such as GoodLeap and Mosaic. If your installer isn’t listed, we can still review your paperwork, because most solar contracts follow similar patterns.

We help homeowners statewide, including Newark, Jersey City, Hoboken, Paramus and the rest of Bergen County, Morristown, Edison, New Brunswick, Princeton, Trenton, Freehold, Toms River, Asbury Park, Cherry Hill, Camden, Atlantic City, and the Pine Barrens communities of South Jersey. Wherever your home sits, from a Jersey Shore bungalow to a suburban colonial off the Garden State Parkway, the review process is the same and can be done by phone.