Homeowners Associations and and Solar Roof Laws Do Battle
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
You Might Also Like
Climate & Clean Energy Legislation Continues to Get WIDE Support 
This Could Really Work!
Year of the Tiger Brings $1.5 Billion in TIGER (Transportation) Grants
Clean Cab Company Gets Solar Power Boost
November 30th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
Does anyone know what kind of complaints these people have and what kind of people make them?
December 1st, 2009 at 10:34 am
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.
December 1st, 2009 at 10:53 am
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.