Like any new market with low barriers to entry, it’s going to get crowded fast. And, if you couple those low barriers with federal and state incentives, you get New Jersey’s solar integrator dilemma—“Two Chucks in a Truck.”

Although the Chucks deliver stellar PowerPoint presentations, their core businesses can be real estate, construction and engineering. They’ve restructured and started installing solar systems to manage in a down economy.

And their lack of experience has left some buyers having to call other solar contractors to fix unfinished or inactive systems. According to Steve Masapollo, CEO of SolarWorks NJ, located in Turnersville, N.J., residential and commercial customers aren’t asking the Chucks enough questions.

“In 2011, we’ve been called on to fix 15 train wrecks. People just didn’t know what they were buying,” he said. “SREC paperwork was never filed. New systems were installed on old leaky roofs. 1000+ solar systems have failed inspections in N.J. since 2009. This means no rebate, no SRECs, and no meter running backwards.”

When a well-established $10M dollar company like SolarWorks NJ is called on to fix the Chucks’ work, it’s not cheap.

“To disassemble and reinstall an array on a leaky roof, on average, it costs $5,000. You would think buyers would at least look up the vendor on the BBB website,” he said. “It doesn’t happen this way. They see a $1,000 system savings and sign. Some of these buyers actually think they own systems that they don’t.”

Masapollo attributes this Two-Chucks-in-a-Truck selling behavior to a lack of regulation and buyers’ lack of due diligence in the early stages of the purchasing decision.

To guard your assets, he recommends getting the vendor’s date of registration, amount of kW’s installed, and at least 3-5 references.

Check our New Jersey solar installers page for our list of contractors. 

Image courtesy of SolarWorks NJ.