Although HOAs can legally have the right to challenge solar panel placement, homeowners have much more influence than they believe.
SOLAR PANELS & HOA RULES
The reason is simple: most HOA bylaws are copied by other property owners. Additionally, they are adapted to specific equipment and procedures no longer employed in the field. Most of the time, an appropriately designed system, and a custom HOA application that explains why a specific design and orientation is recommended, is enough to gain HOA approval. Homeowner associations and solar panel systems don’t have to conflict when the HOA recognizes solar power’s significance. Most of HOA’s concerns about solar panels stem from misperceptions about how the panels will look after installation. By explaining the style, we can show HOAs that solar panels and HOA rules do not clash. The homes can be beautiful and solar.
If that doesn’t occur, various methods exist to overcome objections from your HOA. 8MSolar’s sales representatives can provide individual case-by-case guidance and help you appeal the decision. We accompany our clients to HOA meetings to discuss client cases from an engineering standpoint. With our knowledge, we can see how solar panels work to strengthen the community, and more often, we can get boards endorsed.
DOES HOAS COMMONLY STOP RESIDENTS FROM ADDING SOLAR PANELS?
8MSolar has been creating as well as installing solar panels since the year 2009. The main reason for our ten years of experience is not tariffs or laws of the government. Our neighbors!
Presently, deed restrictions or covenants and other binding agreements, including ones signed by homeowners’ associations (HOA), could stop residential solar panels that have a public view. A homeowner’s association or management firm can block a solar installation or oblige a homeowner to relocate a facility that often reduces the exposure to sunlight and, consequently, the system’s efficiency. Many states have enacted solar access laws to minimize HOAs and other associations’ restrictions on solar panels.
8MSolar offers turnkey project management, which includes filing your HOA application to limit the possibility of being rejected.
WHAT ARE SOLAR ACCESS LAWS?
Since associations can limit homeowners’ access to solar energy, state governments frequently adopt laws governing solar access. Solar access laws restrict or, at a minimum, limit the power to place limitations on the installation of panels for solar energy. Although solar access laws safeguard homeowners’ rights to management from solar, laws regarding solar access may differ between states. The state in which I live is North Carolina; we don’t yet have complete solar access laws in place; however, there is an act in the House designed to implement these laws on solar access for our homeowners.
WHAT IS HB750?
House Bill 750 The bill – HB750 is a plan to broaden possibilities for installing solar panels for residential use. This is good for the solar rooftop industry and homeowners currently restricted by binding agreements or HOAs. If HB750 is passed, there will be no binding covenant, deed, or similar contract, like those of the bylaws for a homeowner association, which can ban or result in banning solar energy. This includes the construction of a solar collector which captures solar radiation as a replacement for traditional water heating energy or active space heating, cooling, and passive heating. It also includes producing electricity for residential properties subject to covenant or deed restriction and other similar contracts. Also, it allows binding agreements to move a solar system if it doesn’t decrease the operating efficiency by over 10 percent.
As of the 17th of April 2019, this bill has been introduced by the General Assembly and hopefully is approved into law. Please take action now and reach out to your local representative and tell them that you want this bill passed into law. It will also provide North Carolina solar access laws!
WHAT ARE SOLAR EASEMENTS?
In addition to the laws governing solar access and regulations, another legal field focuses on securing access to sunlight and solar easements. These agreements permit homeowners to discuss with neighbors or HOA concerning obstructions that could hinder the sunshine they require to power their solar array. For instance, a solar easement may include negotiations concerning a shade tree that could interfere with solar panels. Solar easements are executed through writing. They are voluntary, in contrast to the laws governing solar access. Certain states have protections for solar easements to help homeowners secure their rights to establish an easement for solar power. Even without these protections, homeowners can join the solar easement if neighbors agree. That’s the principle of solar-related easements: each party needs to arrange for it to be legal. However, solar easements offer another method of protecting your solar system and access to electricity.
For more information about solar installations and HOAs, Contact us now!
This bill wasn’t taken up for a vote this session and has been pushed aside. This is a temporary setback for anyone who supports green energy. Our aim should be not to view this as a loss but to continue raising awareness of Solar in our communities, legislators, and decision-makers. Also, we must collaborate with HOAs to help them realize that our objectives are the same as theirs. They want to ensure the continued success of our communities as well as the environments we live in. However, bans on Solar are not the solution.