Real Estate Agents and Solar Referrals: How It Works and What to Disclose

Real estate agents hear plenty of questions beyond the sale itself. A buyer asks what it costs to power the house. A past client calls a year later about a high electric bill.

If one of those homeowners wants to talk with someone about solar or a battery, you can refer them to Solar Advantage. When they complete an installation, you earn $1,000. Here is how it works, and what to sort out with your brokerage before you make your first referral.

Who Can Refer

• You must be at least 18 years old and live in the United States.
• Employees, contractors, and installation partners of Solar Advantage, and people living in their households, are not eligible.
• The payment is for another homeowner’s installation. Your own home, and any home you live in, does not earn a referral payment.
• You never need to buy anything to earn a referral payment.

How a Referral Works

1. Ask first. Only refer people who want to hear from us. Never send us anyone’s contact details without their permission.
2. Tell us before they sign. Make the referral through our website form, by phone, or by email before the homeowner signs a contract. The homeowner must be new to Solar Advantage, and if more than one person refers the same homeowner, the first referral we record counts.
3. We take it from there. We help the homeowner choose a system, and a licensed installation partner designs, permits, and installs it. You do not sell, negotiate, design, or install anything. Contracts are between the homeowner and the companies providing the system.

When the $1,000 Is Paid

A referral qualifies when the homeowner has signed a contract and the system has been installed and passed final inspection. Contracts canceled before that point do not qualify.

From a homeowner’s first conversation with us to a completed installation usually takes about 3 to 6 months. Once the installation is complete and we have your Form W-9, we send payment by check or electronic transfer to the person named in our records for that referral. There is no limit on the number of qualifying referrals, and each home earns no more than one referral payment for each installation.

The W-9 Step

Before we can pay you, we need a completed IRS Form W-9. We email you a secure link to fill in and sign it online. Do not send a W-9 by email or text, since it contains your taxpayer identification number. Use only the secure link we send.

We may report payments to the IRS on Form 1099 as required by law, and you are responsible for any taxes on payments you receive. Your tax advisor can answer questions about your situation.

What to Disclose, and Who to Ask

Our Program Terms ask real estate agents to follow their brokerage’s rules and their license obligations, including any required disclosure of referral payments to clients. What that means in practice depends on your state, your license, and your brokerage’s policies.

This section is general information, not legal advice. Before you make your first referral, check with your brokerage’s managing agent or compliance contact. Questions worth bringing to them:

• Do I need to tell my client, in writing, that I may receive a referral payment?
• Does the brokerage need to approve outside referral arrangements?
• Does a payment like this need to go through the brokerage?
• Are there rules about referrals during an active transaction?

Some simple habits fit most rules. Tell your client plainly that you may be paid if they install a system. Keep the referral separate from the home sale, and never make it a condition of anything. Let the homeowner decide whether to reach out.

What to Leave to Us

When you mention Solar Advantage to a client, keep it simple. Do not promise savings, prices, incentives, tax credits, or financing terms. Those depend on each home, and our team explains them directly to each homeowner. Do not say you work for, represent, or speak for Solar Advantage. Sharing our website link is fine. Using our name or logo in ads, domain names, or social media accounts needs our written permission first.

If your brokerage has questions about how a payment would be made, ask us before you refer.

A Presentation for Your Office

We would be glad to visit your office, or join by video call, for a group presentation to your agents on renewable energy trends for residential and commercial clients. We cover what buyers and sellers are asking about solar and batteries, how incentives and utility rates are changing, what a system on a listing means for a sale, and what commercial property owners are doing about energy costs. It fits a regular team meeting, and questions are welcome.

To book one, contact us on the Fundraisers & Referrals page (choose “A real estate agent” and mention the presentation), or call 866-800-8971.

How to Get Started

1. Check with your brokerage’s managing agent or compliance contact about disclosure and referral rules.
2. Ask your client whether they want to hear from Solar Advantage.
3. Make the referral before they sign a contract, through our form or by calling 866-800-8971.
4. When we email the secure W-9 link, complete and sign it online.

Have a homeowner in mind? Make a referral on the Fundraisers & Referrals page. If you work with a school or community group, the Reverse Fundraiser may also be a fit. The full rules are in the Program Terms.

Sources

• Solar Advantage, Fundraiser and Referral Program Terms
• Internal Revenue Service, Form W-9 (PDF)

This article is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Each project is unique, and all information is subject to change based on project requirements.