CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Charlotte couple says they’re out of tens of thousands of dollars after buying solar panels that no longer work.
Martha and Jay Lee reached out to WCNC Charlotte after, they said, they tried for months, to reach the company, known to them at the time as "Solar Brio."
WCNC Charlotte found the company changed its name multiple times as consumers around the country shared similar concerns about malfunctioning panels and began looking for help.
Broken promises
When a sales representative from Solar Brio came knocking at the Lee home promising them lower power bills, they thought they were with a company they could trust. Instead, the Lees said they were left with costly and broken promises.
This family is not alone.
"We did this in good faith and we expect others to act in good faith," Martha Lee said. "And obviously, this company doesn't even know what good faith means.”
The couple says they took out a loan and refinanced their house to buy the panels. It cost them tens of thousands of dollars. They hoped to help the environment and see their power bill go down. The couple said that's not what happened.
"Jay noticed that the power bill was going up," Martha Lee said, recalling her husband's discovery. "We invested in this system, we didn't think that we would only have it a couple of years, and then we would not be able to use it anymore."
That was just the beginning of months of disappointment.
The Lees claim that their pleas for help went largely unanswered by the company. At that time, they found that the company they first knew as "Solar Brio" had multiple names, including Brio Energy, Avolta Power, and Total Solar Solutions.
A pattern emerges
The Lee family was not alone in their troubles. In Minnesota, Matt Malinosky had the same problem.
"The system has only been fully functional for eight to nine months," Malinosky said.
Barb Whitis said she got the runaround from the company.
"Do this, do this. This will work. This will work. And then, dead silence," Whitis recalled.
The problems in Minnesota got so bad that the state's attorney general took action, responding to consumer complaints.
“My office is suing four Utah-based companies and three of their executives, who deceived and defrauded hundreds of Minnesotans when selling them solar panels, door-to-door, with high-pressure sales tactics," Minnesota's Attorney General Keith Ellison said.
EXPANDED COVERAGE: AG Keith Ellison sues solar-panel sales companies, execs over alleged fraud
Ellison's office settled the case this year securing more than $310,000 in restitution for Minnesotans affected and blocking the companies and their owners from future sales in the state.
Radio silence
We reached out to the company or its high-level associates last week by email, LinkedIn, website and phone hoping to speak with them about the Lee family concerns.
WCNC Charlotte did not hear back from the company.
North Carolina complaints
Despite receiving more than 25 complaints, the North Carolina attorney general’s office would not confirm they’d take the same path as Minnesota.
The office told WCNC Charlotte most of their complaints filed with their office were resolved with the company compensating consumers for the time the panels weren’t working and the cost to have them repaired.
"When our office receives a complaint, we review it and share it with the business/seller in question to get their response and determine whether we might able to assist in a resolution of the complaint," a spokesperson for the N.C. Attorney General's Office said. "Resolutions can vary, depending on the issue at hand – it could be a completion of work, a refund, a partial refund, an explanation, etc. In cases where we are not able to help resolve a complaint, the consumer always has the option to contact private legal counsel to determine whether they want to take legal action."
The Lee family said they plan to submit their complaint to the state attorney general’s office as soon as possible.
"We did not seek them out, They made promises that they didn't keep. They're the ones who have to live with that," Martha Lee said. "Shame on them.”
Consumer advice
The Better Business Bureau recommends customers thoroughly research companies before signing any paperwork.
Customers who think they're being scammed can file a complaint with the BBB and the state attorney general’s office.
Contact Kayland Hagwood at khagwood@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.