David Goldstein Reports

Goldstein: Man Sees Red Over Trying To Go Green

LOS ANGELES (CBS) ― "We want to do like every other person -- we want to save energy."

Frank Catalano was looking to go green.

"This is a florescent bulb."

From energy saving lighting in his Van Nuys home...

"So we don't have to have lights on during the day."

To skylights that let in the sunshine.

"The RPMs can be lowered to save energy."

To an energy saving pool pump.

[NAT Sound on Tape: Swimming]

So when it came to heatng the pool for his family he naturally thought of using the sun's rays and going solar.

"It's my way of doing what I can for energy conservation."

But after putting the panels on his roof -- and listening to the promises from installers -- this "go green" veteran is putting out a red flag for others.

"The American public is going to rush to save energy and they are going to get ripped off in the process."

Catalano spent $6,000 for his solar heating system.

[NAT Sound on Tape: Pool]

He was promised it would extend his swimming season and heat the water from March to October.

"They told you [the water would be] 80 degrees in March?"

"Yes."

"You didn't have 80 degrees in March did you?"

"Not even close. Not even close."

In fact, he says the water wasn't 80 degrees until the last week in May! Maybe two weeks earlier than without the system. But he had companies coming in and promising him the world.

"I had a company come in and say it would extend the swimming season by five months, which would be ten months -- which is virtually impossible."

[Stand Up] The bottom line -- that none of the salespeople who made wild and crazy promises were doing anything wrong. Because there are no regulations over the solar heating pool industry.

[NAT Sound on Tape: "That's the roof."

Pat Redgate owns Ameco Solar and is on the board of the California Solar Energy Industries Association.

"The claims that are being made by some companies are sometimes exaggerated."

[NAT Sound on Tape: Installation]

He's been in business for nearly 35 years and says there are no guidelines or rules. But with the industry booming -- the time may be right.

"You really need to do your shopping. As far as regulations, that may be a good thing."

Regulations may have helped Catalano and his family avoid the wild promises. They just wanted to go solar -- but ended up getting burned.

In Van Nuys, David Goldstein, CBS 2 News.

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