My parent signed a solar contract with a door-to-door rep. What can we do?

If your parent is 60 or older, Nevada gives them until midnight of the tenth business day after signing to cancel a residential solar contract in writing, with no penalty and no reason needed. Under 60, it is the third business day. If there is a solar loan, it needs its own cancellation notice to the lender on the same clock. Count Saturdays, send early, and keep proof.

That is NRS 598.98216, and it covers a purchase, a lease and a power purchase agreement alike. The rest of this page is the order to do things in, starting today.

First, work out the deadline

You need two facts from the folder: the date the agreement was signed, and your parent's age on that date. Nevada law treats anyone 60 or older as an elderly person (NRS 598.0933), and that is the age the solar statute uses for the longer clock.

Then count business days, and count them the careful way. The solar sections do not define "business day". Nevada's older door-to-door statute, NRS 598.150, defines it as any calendar day except Sunday and a list of holidays, and the federal cooling off rule at 16 CFR 429 does the same with federal holidays. Both count Saturday. Counting Saturdays gives you the earliest date anyone could argue for, so treat that as the deadline.

A worked example. An agreement signed on Monday, September 28 2026:

Day one is the day after signing. Sundays are skipped, and no listed holiday falls inside those dates. If the date on the paper is not the day your parent actually signed, use whichever is earlier.

Then send the notice, in writing, two ways

The statute asks for very little. The notice has to be in writing and contain words showing your parent intends to cancel. It can be delivered, mailed or sent by email, to the company's place of business, another place named in the agreement, or the email address on the cover page. Nevada requires that cancellation email address to be printed at the top of the cover page for exactly this purpose.

Send it both ways: email to the cover page address, and a signed paper copy delivered or mailed to the company's office. Keep the sent email, a photo of the signed page and any mailing receipt.

A notice can be this short:

I am cancelling the solar agreement I signed on [date] for [address], under NRS 598.98216. Please confirm the cancellation in writing and refund any payment I made.

Your parent signs it. The right belongs to the person who signed the agreement. You can do all the work around it, but unless you hold legal authority to act for your parent, such as a power of attorney, the signature on the notice should be theirs. If they cannot sign, call a Nevada attorney the same day rather than let the clock run.

The loan is a second contract

This is the step families miss. If the solar was financed, the loan is its own agreement with its own company, and cancelling the installation does not cancel it.

NRS 598.982149 gives the borrower the same clocks against the finance company: third business day, or tenth at 60 or older, from the date the loan agreement was signed. The notice goes to the financier at its place of business, another place named in the loan agreement, or the email address set out in it. Send it the same day as the first one.

If you are not sure whether there is a loan, look for a second set of pages with a different company name at the top. Nevada requires a solar loan agreement to put the term of the loan and what happens if the borrower dies before it is repaid at the top of the first page in large print, which makes it easy to spot.

What the seller has to give back

Nevada's general door-to-door rules require a seller to refund all payments within 10 business days of receiving a cancellation notice, and bar it from selling the buyer's note to a finance company before midnight of the 5th business day after signing (NRS 598.280). The federal rule says the same (16 CFR 429.1).

On a solar contract there should not be much money to return anyway. A solar installation company may not accept payment for the installation before the utility gives permission to connect, apart from a deposit of no more than $1,000 or 10 percent of the contract price, whichever is less (NRS 598.982185). The State Contractors Board states the same limit on its residential solar page. If your parent paid more than that at the door, note it for the complaint.

Which cancellation rule applies

Three sets of rules can reach a sale made at the front door, and they stack rather than compete.

• Nevada's solar statute, NRS 598.98216. Three business days, or ten at 60 and over. Covers every residential solar purchase, lease and power purchase agreement.
• Nevada's door-to-door statute, NRS 598.230. Three business days for any door-to-door sale of $25 or more.
• The FTC cooling off rule, 16 CFR 429. Three business days for a sale of $25 or more made at the buyer's home. Section 429.2 says it does not override a state law that gives the buyer the same or a greater right.

Both door-to-door rules exclude some transactions, including ones where the buyer already has a federal right to rescind a home-secured loan. The solar statute has no such exception, and for a parent of 60 or over it gives the longest clock of the three. Use it, and name it in the notice.

If the deadline has already passed

Missing the window closes the easy door, not every door. Three worth checking, with the folder open:

1. The site survey. Nevada requires an on site physical survey. If it happens after signing and turns up something that raises the price or changes the equipment, your parent has 3 business days from receiving the results to rescind the agreement and any loan with it (NRS 598.982145).
2. The recorded call. The company must record a call going through the cover page with your parent, at signing or within 48 hours, and cannot start installing until it exists. Ask for a copy in writing. If the company does not provide it within 10 business days, the agreement becomes voidable by your parent (NRS 598.98213).
3. Missing paperwork. If the company knowingly left out a disclosure the statute requires, the agreement is voidable by the buyer, and any failure to comply is a deceptive trade practice (NRS 598.9822). Your rights when you sign a solar contract in Nevada lists what the cover page and agreement must contain, so you can check the folder against it.

These are legal questions about a specific contract. Take them to a Nevada attorney, and bring the whole folder.

What the person at the door is not allowed to say

Families often find out afterwards what the pitch was. Several of the common lines are named in Nevada law. Under NRS 598.982186 a solar company, a lead generator or a financier may not:

• claim to be an employee, representative or agent of NV Energy or any public utility, or of the State;
• use a logo, uniform or branding that looks official;
• say or imply they are part of a governmental program for incentives, tax credits or financial assistance, unless the agency running it has authorised that in writing;
• put a term in their marketing that is not in the agreement itself.

"A program for seniors" from somebody who is not the program is exactly the kind of statement that section is written for. Write down what your parent remembers being told, in their words, with the date, while it is fresh. Someone knocked and said they are taking over your warranty covers the other common door pitch.

Where to report it

• The Nevada Attorney General. File a consumer complaint through the online form on the Attorney General's complaints page. The office lists (702) 486-3420 in Las Vegas and (775) 684-1100. It says plainly that it cannot act as your personal lawyer, so file the complaint and speak to an attorney as well.
• Adult Protective Services, if you believe your parent is being financially exploited. The Attorney General's Senior Protection page sends these reports to the Aging and Disability Services Division. Its Elder Protective Services line is (702) 486-6930 for Las Vegas and Clark County and (888) 729-0571 statewide, and it takes reports online.
• The Nevada State Contractors Board, for unlicensed work or a licensed contractor's conduct, and the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, where NRS 598.9822 says a homeowner may file a complaint about a solar installation company.

Nevada treats a deceptive trade practice aimed at someone 60 or older more seriously than the same act aimed at anyone else. NRS 598.0973 lets a court or the Director add a civil penalty of up to $25,000 for each violation, on top of any other penalty. That is a reason to report, not a reason to wait for someone else to.

Then, have the conversation you would have had first

Once the cancellation is in and confirmed, your parent may still want solar, and they may be right to. The difference is doing it at a table with time, two quotes and nobody waiting on the porch. The State Contractors Board's advice is the one to keep: do not be pressured into signing a contract on the spot. How to compare solar quotes in Las Vegas shows how to set two offers side by side, and if the pitch was a lease or a power purchase agreement, how a solar escalator compounds shows what the yearly increase does over 25 years.

We are a licensed Nevada electrical contractor, not a law firm, and nothing on this page is legal advice. It describes the statutes and agency pages listed below as they read on the date at the top. When a deadline is close, act on the earliest reading and then ask a Nevada attorney.

We recheck this page quarterly. Last checked 2026-09-28. If a number here has moved, tell us and we will fix it the same week.