"Even some people who voluntarily signed up for financing products say they were misled about the actual cost of the solar panels. That's because loans from companies like GoodLeap and Mosaic often include an unexplained and significant "dealer fee." For example, a customer buying a $30,000 solar panel system with a low interest rate may not know that price includes a $10,000 loan-dealer fee."
They are still doing this. I got a quote for rooftop solar in November 2023. The finance price was $25,000 more than the cash price. I asked why and the saleslady was loathe to explain it up front. I dug through the quote / fine print and saw that they are essentially trying to capture the customer's projected Federal tax credit. So if I had used their in house financing (as most people do) a $45,000 install suddenly became a $70,000 install. Because fuck you, that's why.
Of course the financing had an irresistible 1% interest rate attached to it. And if you never even asked about the cash price (as most people don't) then you're not shown it and you have no idea they're building in a premium.
I signed up to do the cash plan, but it didn't matter anyway as the site survey didn't come back to my satisfaction. They tried to claim I owed them for the survey, but as soon as I started making noise about the finance add on they decided $2,000 wasn't that important to them. /IAAL //Watch yourself kids. Satan Claus, he's out there. And he's just getting stronger.