Homeowners Associations and and Solar Roof Laws Do Battle

November 30th, 2009 by Susan Kraemer

The desire to avoid solar confrontations with neighbors could have an effect on architectural design. Here’s how one Southern California homeowner solved that on a new home in San Diego: he hid the panels behind a parapet.

California has already had a law on the books for three decades: The California Solar Rights Act made it illegal to restrict solar system installations, in deeds and certain other documents.

It was designed to encourage solar energy by residential and commercial property owners. The law does allow for some “reasonable restrictions,” including those that do not increase a solar energy system’s cost by more than 20 percent or decrease its efficiency by more than 20 percent.

But just last month yet another homeowner in Southern California had to sue his homeowners association in order to be able to put solar power up on his own roof.

These kinds of conflicts still happen because of a loophole in the law. So beginning Jan. 1, an amendment to the act will expand it to cover all governing documents in common-interest developments, such as those used by a community association.

Image: Sebastian Mariscal

Source: Ventura County Star

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Tags: common-interest development, deeds, homeowners associations, Kraemer, solar California legislation, Southern CAlifornia, The California Solar Rights Act

About the Author

Susan Kraemer writes at CleanTechnica, CSP-Today, PV-Insider , SmartGridUpdate, and GreenProphet. She has also been published at Ecoseed, NRDC OnEarth, MatterNetwork, Celsius, EnergyNow, and Scientific American. As a former serial entrepreneur in product design, Susan brings an innovator's perspective on inventing a carbon-constrained civilization: If necessity is the mother of invention, solving climate change is the mother of all necessities! As a lover of history and sci-fi, she enjoys chronicling the strange future we are creating in these interesting times. Follow Susan on Twitter @dotcommodity.

Anonymous

This one is really looking one of unique information about home owners association. And this post information really shows that high battle between two of them. This one is really upgrading my information about HOA.

Community Association Institute
Susan Kraemer

My sympathies, Mary. Familiar story. When I did solar estimates, I found that so many people who wanted solar pv lived on nice treelined streets (shading their steep roofs) and also had ‘modest little roofs built before such things were thought of’

The worst was a 3 story with fragile crumbling gorgeous antique tile – on a house that seemed like about 500 sq ft! A terrifyingly tiny steep roof.
Mary Fisher

Somebody very short-sighted, methinks.

Our roof mounted solar water heating panel has caused a lot of head-shaking in our street – ‘those crazy Fishers’- but nobody’s complained.

We’re now waiting for someone to notice a wisp of smoke from the chimney and bring the wrath of H&E on us. It won’t get them anywhere, we paid a lot for the only wood burning stove to be certified for use in a smokeless zone.

If only we could afford and had the roof area for pv panels – but our modest English house was built before such things were even thought of. I’m sure that nobody would object.
Mary Fisher

Somebody very short-sighted, methinks.

Our roof mounted solar water heating panel has caused a lot of head-shaking in our street – ‘those crazy Fishers’- but nobody’s complained.

We’re now waiting for someone to notice a wisp of smoke from the chimney and bring the wrath of H&E on us. It won’t get them anywhere, we paid a lot for the only wood burning stove to be certified for use in a smokeless zone.

If only we could afford and had the roof area for pv panels – but our modest English house was built before such things were even thought of. I’m sure that nobody would object.
Susan Kraemer

My sympathies, Mary. Familiar story. When I did solar estimates, I found that so many people who wanted solar pv lived on nice treelined streets (shading their steep roofs) and also had ‘modest little roofs built before such things were thought of’

The worst was a 3 story with fragile crumbling gorgeous antique tile – on a house that seemed like about 500 sq ft! A terrifyingly tiny steep roof.
Jacob

Does anyone know what kind of complaints these people have and what kind of people make them?
Jacob

Does anyone know what kind of complaints these people have and what kind of people make them?