Every automated text a solar rep sends is a $500 gamble if the consent behind it is wrong — $1,500 per message if a court calls it willful. Here is what federal TCPA and the state mini-TCPAs actually require in 2026, in the order regulators check it.
This is a general summary, not legal advice.
The single most important rule: you need prior express written consent (PEWC) before sending any automated marketing text, ringless voicemail, or AI voice message to a solar prospect. It is defined in 47 CFR 64.1200(f)(9) — a clear, affirmative agreement to receive automated marketing from your specific company.
Run the math on a list: send 200 unconsented texts and you are exposed to up to 200 × $1,500 = $300,000 if the violations are deemed willful.
☐ “By checking this box, you agree to receive automated marketing text messages from [Company] at the number provided. Consent is not a condition of purchase. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help.”
Store the checkbox timestamp, the form URL, and the number entered. “Here is the record from [date]” is the sentence that ends a demand letter.
An Established Business Relationship is real, but narrow: 18 months from a purchase, or 3 months from an inquiry. It exempts you from the National Do Not Call registry only — it does not replace PEWC for automated marketing texts or voicemail, and a company-specific opt-out always overrides it.
An EBR might let you legally call a past customer on the DNC list, but it does not let you fire automated marketing texts at them without PEWC. If a homeowner told you to stop, the EBR does not bring them back.
The window is measured in the recipient’s local time. A rep in Florida texting a prospect in California has to respect Pacific time; send at 7:59 AM or 9:01 PM local and it is a violation. The window applies every day, weekends included, and there is no “urgent solar deal” exception.
Florida’s mini-TCPA, the Florida Telephone Solicitation Act (Fla. Stat. 501.059), is the rule set most likely to catch solar reps off guard. What it adds on top of federal TCPA:
| Rule | Federal TCPA | Florida FTSA |
|---|---|---|
| Quiet hours | 8 AM–9 PM | 8 AM–8 PM |
| Frequency cap | None specific | 3 per 24 hours (same subject, same number) |
| Consent | PEWC | PEWC (checked box or affirmative text reply) |
| EBR exemption | DNC only | Added by 2023 amendments (HB 761) |
| STOP safe harbor | 10 business days | 15 days |
| Penalties | $500 / $1,500 | $500 / $1,500 |
Two Florida details reps miss: ringless voicemail is explicitly covered as a “voicemail transmission,” so RVM drops count toward the 3-per-24-hour cap — and the 2023 HB 761 amendments added the text safe harbor: after a homeowner replies STOP, the sender has 15 days to cease.
Florida is not alone — states keep layering their own mini-TCPAs on top of the federal floor, and the pattern they copy is Florida’s: tighter windows, frequency caps, per-text penalties. If you sell across state lines you have two honest options: implement each state’s rules from the state-by-state SMS pages, or run Florida-strict nationwide — 8 AM–8 PM, 3 messages per 24 hours, instant STOP processing.
Florida-strict everywhere costs you one evening hour of send window and deletes the tracking problem. For a rep, that trade is almost always worth it; for a team, enforce it in tooling so nobody has to remember which lead is in which state.
Storm and disaster solicitation bans target roofing and restoration contractors, not solar. Two solar-specific items still apply:
Solar installation generally requires a state electrical or home-improvement contractor license — and marketing solar without it can be a separate violation in states like FL, CA, and TX, independent of any TCPA issue.
Do not promise savings you cannot document for that specific home, never imply you are a utility or government agency, and never describe the federal solar tax credit (the ITC) as a guaranteed rebate or check — it is a tax credit, not a payout.
Under FCC 24-24, consumers may revoke consent by any reasonable means — STOP, CANCEL, and QUIT are per se reasonable, and you cannot require a magic word or special process. Process revocation within 10 business days federally; Florida’s safe harbor gives 15 days after a STOP reply.
Any clear “stop / don’t text me / remove me” is an opt-out, not just the exact keyword. The 10-business-day window is the legal ceiling — processing instantly is the safe move, and once they opt out, no exemption brings them back.
Before sending business-to-consumer SMS to US numbers, you must register your brand and campaign through A2P 10DLC. This is a carrier-level requirement (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile) layered on top of TCPA: unregistered traffic gets filtered or blocked regardless of whether you have PEWC. It is separate from, and in addition to, your consent obligations.
Before you send another text to a homeowner, confirm:
If you cannot check every box, do not send until you can. Compliance is not why solar reps lose deals — sloppy texting is.
FollowUp enforces per-recipient-timezone quiet hours across all 50 states — a text to a Florida homeowner automatically respects the 8 AM–8 PM window while a California lead gets the federal window — and handles opt-outs automatically: STOP, CANCEL, and QUIT are detected and suppressed instantly, with a full audit trail for every send. Book a compliance demo or get started.
Automated marketing texts to a solar prospect require prior express written consent (PEWC) under 47 CFR 64.1200(f)(9). A purchased or broker lead list is not consent by itself. You may only send between federal quiet hours of 8 AM and 9 PM in the recipient’s local time. You must honor opt-outs (STOP, CANCEL, QUIT) within 10 business days under FCC 24-24, and you must register your brand and campaign for A2P 10DLC before sending B2C SMS to US numbers. Violations cost $500 per text, or $1,500 for willful violations.
No. EBR (18 months from a purchase, or 3 months from an inquiry) exempts you from the National Do Not Call registry only. It does not replace prior express written consent (PEWC) for automated marketing texts or ringless voicemail. A company-specific opt-out always overrides EBR.
Florida’s FTSA (Fla. Stat. 501.059) sets stricter quiet hours of 8 AM to 8 PM, a frequency cap of 3 calls, texts, or voicemails per 24 hours on the same subject to the same number, and requires PEWC (a checked box or an affirmative text reply counts). A text safe harbor gives senders 15 days to stop after a STOP reply. Penalties are $500 per violation and $1,500 for willful violations. Ringless voicemail is explicitly covered.
No. Storm and disaster solicitation bans apply to roofing and restoration contractors, not solar. Solar reps do not face a storm-solicitation ban, but they still must follow TCPA and state mini-TCPA rules and may need a state electrical or home-improvement contractor license.
Under FCC 24-24, consumers may revoke consent by any reasonable means, and STOP, CANCEL, and QUIT are per se reasonable. You must process revocation within 10 business days. Under Florida’s FTSA text safe harbor, the sender has 15 days to cease after a STOP reply.