House bill 697 expanded upon this legislation to allow condominium boards to install solar on their properties to benefit unit owners without their prior approval.
Solar panel access and hoa.
In some cases an hoa may deny you for aesthetic reasons.
For example hoa s can usually determine where the panels can go and how they are installed even in states that have solar access laws.
Given that you may be the one educating your customers about their rights in this respect it is important to know your state s existing laws whether provide protections from hoa solar restrictions and what forms they take.
Associations are not permitted to prohibit the installation of solar panels on a unit or property which is owned by a member of the association.
Solar access laws that protect homeowners rights during the hoa solar approval process have been adopted by many states including california utah and florida.
An hoa will only prevent you from installing solar panels if your state requires approval for the installation and then rejects the proposal.
Here s what hoas need to know about regulating the installation of solar panels.
Whether you are a member living within a development governed by a homeowners association hoa or a condominium owners association coa and interested in installing solar panels on your home or a member of the board of directors of a hoa coa or its respective architectural review committees arc in florida it would behoove you to become familiar with florida statute 163.
Once you ve decided on the solar panels you re going to use the power output that you expect to have your rebates and financing options you re left to gain approval from your homeowner s association.
It also allows the unit owners to install solar within their own condos.
The key is to check your state s solar access rights to see if it can prevent you from going solar.
For example some solar access laws allow hoas to retain the right to influence the design of a rooftop solar array.
Click on your state below to learn more about local solar access laws.
An hoa may restrict where you place your solar panels but not if the system s performance suffers as a result.
The first step to approaching your hoa is to understand the overarching solar access laws in your jurisdiction.
Sometimes dealing with your hoa can be a headache.
In many cases hoa members may still need to request permission before installing their solar panels and ensure all electrical wiring is out of sight.
It is also often the case that homeowner s associations have a process for the approval of the design installation or placement of solar panels and sometimes that may require presenting plans or pictures of the proposed system in order to gain the approval of the same.
Check out this list of rules regulations and policies by state to get a feel for the solar access laws in your area if any.
However they do often allow hoas to place reasonable restrictions on solar systems.
Though related solar access laws can be divided into solar easement provisions and solar rights provisions.