When CPS Energy announced in December that it would extend its solar rebate program with $30 million, it expected the money to last at least two years.

Six months later, $11 million has already been spent after a flood of new solar installers entered the market. And CPS Energy officials and local solar companies say some of them are using deceptive sales tactics and price-gouging that require new policies to protect consumers.

In December, the utility said it would reimburse customers for a portion of the cost of their solar installation in three sections: The first $10 million would be spent at $1.20 per watt, the next $10 million at $1 per watt and the last $10 million at 80 cents per watt.

As of last week, the first $10 million had been fully dispersed, and CPS Energy is $1 million into the second section, Senior Manager Rick Luna told the San Antonio Express-News.

“We’ve just seen so much activity,” Luna said. “A lot of that is new players coming into the market. Some of it is rebates coming to an end.”

On Thursday, CPS Energy officials met with solar installation companies to outline new measures, which include a disclosure form that solar salespeople must show prospective customers and a per-watt price cap on systems that would qualify for the rebate.

The rebate and other programs offered by CPS Energy have helped expand the local solar market. An April report by Environment America ranked San Antonio No. 7 in the United States and No. 1 in Texas for the amount of solar capacity installed in city limits.

The utility has paid rebates for roughly 5,000 systems, adding up to 45 megawatts of solar capacity, Luna said.

Until now, CPS Energy had only heard of questionable sales tactics “here and there,” Luna said.

“What’s unique this time is some of the pricing variations, as well as the complaints we were getting,” he said.

Ben Rodriguez, spokesman for San Antonio Solar Alliance, a trade group of solar installers, said he has heard reports from CPS Energy and personally witnessed salespeople using “whatever-means-possible” techniques.

These include overstaying their welcome in peoples’ homes and not quoting accurate energy production numbers, he said. Such salespeople often target middle- and upper-middle-class neighborhoods and retired homeowners who have not been exposed to solar, he said.

“The only way for a company to migrate into a market that is already filled with established companies is to, in my opinion, hire extremely aggressive, well-motivated salespeople to do door-to-door marketing and online marketing,” Rodriguez said.

CPS Energy’s legal team has in some cases issued cease-and-desist orders to businesses that are not playing by the rules, utility spokesman Paul Flaningan said.

Lisa Gold, vice president of sales for South Texas Solar Systems, said most of the “shady” companies come from out of state. She advises consumers to shop local for solar and get two to three estimates before making a purchase. She supports the new CPS Energy rules.

Gold described one company’s tactic of sending young women “dressed a little scantily” door to door, seeking appointments for salespeople to follow up. The women earn $1,000 commissions if the lead generates a sale, she said.

“Most of the time, our sales reps don’t make $1,000 on the sale,” she said. “That tells you about how much they’re marking up their product.”

To stop this, CPS Energy will soon require solar salespeople to show customers a disclosure form that includes a typical market rate for a residential solar system in San Antonio and their rights as a consumer.

About 70 percent of the systems that CPS Energy paid rebates for in 2015 cost $3.10 to $4 per watt, Luna said. CPS is aware of some salespeople charging $6 to $8 per watt, he said.

“Solar is a complicated thing,” Luna said. “It’s one of those things where folks don’t know what a solar system should cost. … It creates an opportunity for some people to make decisions they end up regretting.”

The utility will also set a cap of $4 per watt of direct current on residential systems, Luna said. Solar installers can still charge higher prices, but these will not qualify for the rebate.

The disclosure form will also inform customers who are being sold on an unrealistically high payback through monthly savings, Luna said.

“Sometimes we see some wild claims about payback,” he said. “And we want to make sure customers understand you’re not going to make your money back in one year.”

The disclosure form will inform customers that a typical 6-kilowatt residential system will save customers $80 on their bill each month, he said.

The new rules apply only to the solar rebate and not CPS Energy’s SolarHost program, which lets customers apply to host panels for free on qualifying homes, and the Roofless Solar initiative, in which customers pay for panels at a central location.

CPS Energy already has several rules in place for its rebate program. Rebates are capped at $25,000 for residential projects and $80,000 for commercial. They also cannot pay more than half the project’s costs.

The utility plans to post the new rebate policies on its website. They also include a change in the way the utility will split the money between residential and commercial projects.

For the second and third sections, 70 percent, or $7 million, will now be dedicated for residential projects, with the remaining $3 million for commercial, Luna said.

When the $7 million is paid out at $1 per watt, then residential projects will be reimbursed at the 80-cent rate until that money is exhausted.

“If we got to the end of tranche three and we spent all residential but no commercial, then it would be first-come, first-serve,” Luna said.

The Solar Alliance’s Rodriguez said the new policies have “overwhelming” support from most local installers. The disclosure form “forces the installer to fully inform the consumer about what they’re getting and how much they’re getting it for,” he said.

“It’s a huge step not only for solar but for the relationship between CPS and the renewable energy industry as a whole,” Rodriguez said.