Less than nine months after Vision Solar received a contractor’s license, complaints to the Connecticut Attorney General’s office were pouring in.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong has filed a lawsuit against Vision Solar, citing numerous violations committed by the company. Vision Solar, a newcomer to Connecticut, was granted a Home Improvement Contractor license in December 2020, but starting in August 2021, the Attorney General’s office began to receive the first of 14 unique complaints against the company.
The legal complaint can be found here.
The attorney general’s office states that “Vision Solar preyed on low-income, elderly, and disabled homeowners, pressuring them into unaffordable loans for solar panels that in some cases were never activated”. The company’s in-home sales tactics included overstaying permitted hours, pressuring customers into immediate signatures, falsely claiming that signatures were for “pre-approval” only, and failing to deliver contracts to customers. The attorney general also alleged that Vision Solar made sales pitches to individuals with language or intellectual challenges who were unable to make informed purchasing decisions.
Vision Solar is also accused of misrepresenting the tax benefits of solar panel installation to those with no tax liability. The attorney general further suggested that Vision Solar applied for solar permits without proper licenses and may have used the license of an electrician no longer employed by the company to apply for some of those permits. Vision Solar is also alleged to have installed solar projects without a licensed electrician.
Vision Solar’s online reviews tell a similar story. With 176 reviews, Vision Solar received 1.79 out of 5 stars on SolarReviews.com. They earned an “F” with 1.21 out of 5 stars from the Better Business Bureau, with 203 reviews. On Yelp! the company earned only 1.5 out of 5 stars, and on Angie’s List (now just ‘Angi’) they received the site’s lowest possible score, 1 out of 5.
In 2020, Vision Solar sued Momentum Solar for trade secret violations. Momentum Solar itself was sued for racist and discriminatory actions. Online searches reveal multiple lawsuits against Vision Solar in New Jersey for violation of the Do Not Call list.
Despite the numerous complaints against the company, as of March 20, 2023, Vision Solar’s license is still listed as “active”.
