Homeowner’s Guide: How To Talk To Your HOA About Solar Energy

You’re ready for solar power energy for your home, but your Homeowners Association (HOA) may not be…Knowing how to navigate discussions with your HOA about installing solar panels is crucial as you start or restart this process. It isn’t always a simple process—but with this guide, you can get prepared to address opposition, questions, and concerns about solar power and more specifically solar panels. You’ll also find tips to ensure you comply with HOA community rules, as well as what to do if those rules haven’t kept pace with the advances in technology and aesthetics of solar energy.

What you need to know: Solar Access Law

By law, HOAs no longer have the power to bar residents from choosing solar residential system panels for their home’s energy usage.

2007: The Solar Access Law was enacted.

• Safeguards homeowners’ rights to pursue solar energy systems for their properties.
• Overturned restrictions from HOAs that tried to ban “the reasonable use of a solar collector for a detached single-family residence.”
• Not all restrictions were removed in their entirety as HOAs were still able to control where homeowners placed their solar panels–this meant homeowners couldn’t place them on their roofs that faced the street or public, which, in effect, left homeowners unable to gain access to solar power.

2022: The Supreme Court ruled in favor of homeowners with HOAs seeking solar power.

• This ruling meant that HOAs could no longer stop their community’s homeowners from installing solar systems anywhere on their property.
• With an estimated 26% of homeowners living within HOA communities, this ruling made access to solar energy possible, where it hadn’t been before.

Beyond the law: How to work effectively with your HOA

The law is on your side—but it’s best to get your HOA and neighbors on your side as well, especially if you think there may be opposition to your plans. 

1. Talk To Your Neighbors. Learn everything about your HOA board that you can before you bring your request to them. This allows you to know how the board and your community feel about solar energy beforehand. With this new knowledge, you come to your HOA prepared to address the questions, concerns, or barriers you have been made aware of.
2. Petition Your HOA. If you discover your HOA isn’t pro-solar energy, don’t worry. You can try to bring them over to your viewpoint by discussing the benefits, such as increasing a home’s property value and weathering bad weather with less outage time. 
3. Create A Community Petition And Change The HOA Solar Power Rules. If your HOA is unmoved by your request and benefit discussion, that’s not the end of the road. You can move forward by creating a petition and gathering as many community signatures as you can. This will enable you to request, with the support of your neighbors, to overturn your HOA solar policies that restrict solar energy and create new ones.
4. Use The Solar Energy Law. If a petition didn’t move the HOA board, then it’s time to discuss legal rights. As mentioned above, you have the right to install residential solar panels on your property without great resistance; however, HOAs are allowed to limit the location of your panels–as long as it doesn’t limit reasonable use.
   • There are many laws that still allow HOAs to place “reasonable” restrictions on the size and location of a solar installation, but only if these rules do not impose significant costs to the system owner or significantly reduce the productivity of the solar array. 
   • Ask your HOA to provide their solar access policy and check to see if the language complies with your state’s solar access law (if your state has one).
   • To better understand your rights, check if your state has a solar access law by visiting the Community Associations Institute’s Solar Rights and Easements by State map. 
5. Get Professional Assistance. When in doubt, reach out to Georgia BRIGHT’s professional solar energy providers who can review your specific needs and advise you on your case. Our solar energy experts are up-to-date and well-versed with the solar energy laws and can help you find a way to move ahead with your solar plans and comply with HOA restrictions.

Questions to Help You Prepare To Discuss Solar Power Energy With Your HOA

Make sure you have answers and examples or evidence as you prepare for the questions your HOA may ask.

1. Are there rules governing the placement of conduits, inverters, or other related electrical equipment?
2. Are solar panels explicitly prohibited? 
3. If they are not prohibited, are there rules that may effectively prohibit an installation?
   (An example of this would be forbidding an installation on the part of your roof that optimizes solar production if that part of the roof is street-facing.) 
4. Are there rules governing the placement of conduits, inverters, or other related electrical equipment?