September 9, 2026
Texas has entered a new era of residential solar regulation.
As of September 1, 2026, new provisions of Senate Bill 1036, the Residential Solar Retailer Regulatory Act, are now in effect, bringing greater oversight and accountability to the way residential solar is sold in Texas.
For Atma Energy, this is more than an industry update.
We have spent years advocating for a solar industry built around honest information, sound engineering and accountability to homeowners. Our CEO and Co-Founder, Supratim Srinivasan, spoke publicly about the problems he was seeing in residential solar, including through the San Antonio Express-News' investigation into deceptive solar sales practices. That advocacy led to conversations with those involved in developing the new legislation, where Supratim was able to share his views on the need for greater accountability and consumer protection.
We are proud to have contributed our perspective to that process, and even prouder to see stronger protections for Texas homeowners become law.
Why Texas needed stronger solar protections
Solar technology works.
Where things can go wrong is in how it's sold: misleading information, unrealistic promises and too little accountability for what happens after the contract is signed.
The San Antonio Express-News' award-winning In Broad Daylight investigation examined more than 1,000 consumer complaints filed with the Texas Attorney General's Office. Among the complaints the newspaper analyzed, 83% involved homeowners who said they had been misled by salespeople. More than half involved people still making loan payments on systems that were unfinished, faulty or not working at all.
Supratim was one of the local industry experts who spoke openly with the Express-News about what was going wrong.
He described a dealer model in which independent salespeople could add substantial markups to systems, while the company ultimately responsible for installation had little control over what the homeowner had been promised. Atma took a different approach, avoiding door-to-door sales and keeping greater accountability within the company.
The investigation helped bring wider attention to a problem reputable solar companies had been confronting for years: bad solar practices hurt everyone, including the homeowners and companies trying to do things properly.
More recently, the Express-News spoke with Supratim again about the changing residential solar landscape in Texas, including the challenges facing the industry as incentives, regulations and market conditions evolve.
What does SB 1036 change for Texas homeowners?
SB 1036 created the Residential Solar Retailer Regulatory Act and gave the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation greater authority over residential solar sales and leases.
Some protections have already been in place since September 1, 2025. Residential solar agreements must include specific contract provisions, identify the licensed electrical contractor responsible for installation and give homeowners five business days to cancel an agreement without penalty or further obligation.
As of September 1, 2026, additional provisions are now in effect. Residential solar retailers and salespeople covered by the law must register with TDLR, and provisions addressing prohibited conduct are now enforceable.
Among other requirements, the law holds solar retailers responsible for reasonable supervision of their salespeople and prohibits knowingly or recklessly making false, misleading or deceptive statements while selling residential solar.
A homeowner considering solar should be able to expect accurate information about what a system can produce, what it will cost, what incentives they may actually qualify for and who will be responsible for installing and supporting it.
Those expectations should not be exceptional, they should be the baseline standard.
The industry is still being tested
The new protections arrive at a significant moment for residential solar.
In April 2026, Freedom Forever, once one of the country's largest residential solar installers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Its collapse left employees out of work and homeowners facing questions about unfinished projects, service and warranties.
Atma CEO Supratim Srinivasan later spoke with Latitude Media about what the bankruptcy revealed about the residential solar business model and the need for a more sustainable way forward.
That same month, the Texas Attorney General announced an investigation into several residential solar companies, including Sunrun, Freedom Forever, Lone Star Solar Services and CAM Solar. The Attorney General's office said it had received more than 100 complaints involving the companies collectively and was investigating allegations including misrepresentations about energy savings, system performance, equipment and contract terms.
An investigation is not a finding of wrongdoing, but the action illustrates why greater transparency and accountability have become such important issues for the industry.
In May, the Attorney General went further in a separate case, filing a lawsuit against San Antonio-based CAM Solar alleging fraudulent and deceptive sales practices.
These cases have not been brought to light to attack solar companies, but because homeowners deserve to understand why the rules are changing.
What honest solar looks like to us
At Atma, we believe in making solar simple, so homeowners understand what they're buying before they sign anything.
That starts with the person they're talking to. Our Residential Solar Advisors receive technical training and work closely with our engineering team, so their role isn't simply to sell a system. It's to help homeowners understand their energy usage, ask the right questions and make an informed decision about what makes sense for their home.
That means:
Designing systems around the home, its actual energy usage and the homeowner's goals
Giving homeowners realistic expectations about system production, savings and backup capabilities
Being transparent about equipment, pricing, financing and the tradeoffs between different options
Giving our Solar Advisors technical training and direct access to engineering expertise throughout the process
Making sure what is discussed with a homeowner can actually be supported by the system design and delivered in the field
Controlling installation quality through detailed engineering drawings, training, QA/QC reviews and verification that construction matches the approved design documents
Staying available after installation when a homeowner needs service or support
Selling solar shouldn’t be about what a salesperson can or can't say. For us, it’s about creating a process where the people advising homeowners understand the technology, engineers are involved in the system design, and what gets built in the field matches what was designed and promised.
Accountability shouldn't end when the system is turned on, either.
As other solar companies have closed their doors, we've increasingly heard from homeowners left with systems they can no longer get serviced. Some need relatively simple repairs, and others have systems that require extensive work due to poor design or installation. That's why Atma services solar systems even when we weren't the original installer.
The San Antonio Express-News has reported on Atma's work helping these homeowners and noted that its review of complaints filed with the Texas Attorney General found none involving Atma.
SB 1036 raises the standard for residential solar in Texas. We welcome that because greater transparency, technical accountability and consumer protection are principles we've been building our company around from the beginning.
Better regulation is good for solar
Consumer protection and solar growth are not opposing goals. They're connected.
Every homeowner who is misled into a bad contract, receives a poorly designed system or is abandoned when an installer disappears has a reason to tell their friends and neighbors that solar doesn't work.
But in many of those cases, solar wasn't the problem. The way it was sold, designed, financed, installed or supported was.
Texas needs more energy. Electricity demand is growing, and distributed resources such as rooftop solar and battery storage can be part of how we meet that challenge.
But the industry cannot grow sustainably without trust.
SB 1036 won't solve every problem in residential solar, but what it does is establish clearer expectations and greater accountability for the people and companies selling these systems.
Atma Energy welcomes the legislation. Texas law is now catching up with many of the principles we have been advocating for all along.
And we'll continue advocating for an industry where homeowners can choose solar with better information, stronger protections and confidence in the people standing behind their system.
That's better for homeowners, and it's better for solar.
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Learn more about the new requirements from TDLR:
https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/residential-solar-retailers/effect.htm
Read the Texas Attorney General's announcement:
https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-launches-major-initiative-combat-widespread-fraud-companies-selling
Read the San Antonio Express-News investigation:
https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/solar-energy-scams-loans-texas-winter-storm-uri-19868556.php