Texas Solar Retailer Registration: What Homeowners Should Check After September 1, 2026

Beginning September 1, 2026, a retailer or salesperson conducting a covered sale or lease of a residential solar energy system in Texas must be registered with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, commonly called TDLR. For a homeowner, that creates a useful identity check before signing and a useful record check after a disputed sale. It does not answer every contract, financing, installation, or utility question.

Ask for the legal names and TDLR registration details of both the residential solar retailer and the individual salesperson. Also identify the licensed electrical contractor and any separate lender. Those parties may have different roles and responsibilities.

What changed on September 1, 2026

Texas Senate Bill 1036 created Occupations Code Chapter 1806. The law phased in its requirements. Required contract provisions and a five-business-day right to cancel covered agreements began September 1, 2025. The retailer and salesperson registration provisions, prohibited acts, and additional enforcement authority took effect September 1, 2026.

Registration is therefore a new checkpoint, not the beginning of all Texas solar contract protections. If a proposal or agreement was signed after September 1, 2025, the earlier contract and cancellation provisions may also matter. Dates should be matched to the version of the law and rules in effect when the transaction occurred.

Which residential solar sales are covered

TDLR describes the covered agreements as sales or leases of residential solar energy systems, including solar panels and solar shingles, subject to statutory exceptions. The Act does not regulate every product marketed with the word solar.

• Systems on multifamily buildings with four or more dwelling units or stories are excluded from this Act.
• Systems on nonresidential property are excluded.
• Temporary or emergency systems, systems intended to power a single appliance, and certain systems below one kilowatt of aggregate peak output are excluded.
• Electrical installation work may still be regulated even when the sales agreement falls outside this particular Act.

How to check the seller before relying on a proposal

1. Write down the retailer's exact legal name and the salesperson's full name as shown on the proposal and agreement.
2. Ask each person for the TDLR registration number that applies to the transaction.
3. Use TDLR's official license and registration search rather than a badge, screenshot, or link supplied only by the seller.
4. Compare the search result with the company name, individual name, and status shown in your documents. Preserve a dated copy of what you found.
5. Separately verify the electrical contractor and identify any lender or lease provider named in the transaction.

Contract provisions and the cancellation notice

For a covered sale or lease involving installation at a residence, Texas law requires the agreement to provide for installation by a licensed electrical contractor and to identify that contractor by name and license number, or provide an approved list from which one will be selected. The agreement must also address required permits and utility, cooperative, or municipal interconnection approval.

The agreement must allow the buyer or lessee to cancel without penalty or further obligation by written notice on or before the fifth business day after execution. It must state the last calendar date of that period and provide a mailing or email address for cancellation. If an affiliated or referred third-party lender is involved, the agreement must require that lender to cancel the accompanying loan when the solar agreement is properly canceled. Coverage and timing can depend on the facts, so act promptly and seek qualified legal advice when uncertain.

The current TDLR enforcement transition

As verified September 10, 2026, TDLR says it is accepting registration applications and is temporarily suspending enforcement of administrative rules 71.41 and 71.43 until November 1, 2026. Those rules concern contract disclosures and educational materials. The notice should not be read as a suspension of every statutory contract duty or of the September 1 registration requirement.

This transition makes dated documentation especially important. Preserve the agreement date, seller identities, registration search result, disclosures received, and any explanation of what the temporary enforcement notice supposedly means. A salesperson's broad claim that Texas delayed the entire law should be checked against TDLR's current notice and the statute.

What registration does not prove

• Registration does not guarantee that a savings estimate is accurate.
• Registration does not verify a lender's financing terms or eliminate a separate loan review.
• Registration does not establish that a utility will approve interconnection or buy exported electricity at a particular rate.
• An apparent registration problem does not automatically make an agreement void, illegal, fraudulent, or cancelable.

Build a complete record before deciding what to do next

Keep the proposal, signed agreement, cancellation notice, TDLR search result, salesperson messages, electrical contractor information, lender documents, utility bills, and interconnection records together. Solar Exit's document review checklist can help organize the parties and promises. If financing or monthly payments are the main concern, compare the file with the site's payment and financing guidance.

Texas solar registration FAQs

Does a retailer registration replace an electrical contractor license?

No. The retailer, salesperson, electrical contractor, and lender can be separate parties. Verify each role and the credential that applies to it.

Is a contract automatically void if a registration cannot be found?

Do not assume so. Confirm names and dates with TDLR, preserve the evidence, and obtain qualified legal advice about how the law applies to the specific agreement.

Does every solar transaction have the same five-business-day right to cancel?

No. The Chapter 1806 right applies to covered agreements, and other state or federal cancellation rules may have different coverage. Review the actual notice and act immediately if a deadline may still be open.