Overview

Even though California public policy strongly supports homeowner efforts to take advantage of renewable energy options, like installing solar panels on their roofs, California law does allow HOAs to regulate solar panel installation. Their ability to do so, however, is sharply restricted. Many homeowners understand that. They understand that their HOAs cannot flatly prohibit solar panels. But that doesn’t prevent a lot of bad HOAs from trying to block solar panel installations indirectly through a series of thinly veiled restrictions that sound reasonable to some on the surface, but make the project too expensive, too inefficient, or too slow to move forward.

Civil Code sections 714 and 714.1 define “reasonable restriction” through measurable limits. An HOA, for example, may not impose any restriction that increases the total cost of a solar energy system by more than $1,000 or reduces expected electricity output by more than 10%, measured in kilowatt hours. The law also requires the HOA to approve or deny a complete solar application within 45 calendar days of its submission. When a restriction crosses those thresholds or when the HOA misses that deadline, the restriction becomes unenforceable.

Condominium owners face a second layer of restrictions because common area roofs create unique practical issues. The Davis-Stirling Act, specifically Civil Code 4746, addresses those realities and, subject to enumerated conditions, allows a condominium owner to install solar panels on the owner’s pro-rata portion of the common area roof or a designated parking space. Those conditions include responsibility for maintenance and damage, insurance requirements, and recordable covenants, and the HOA may prevent one owner’s system from interfering with another owner’s system. These are real restrictions, but those are the limits. HOAs are not empowered to make up rules that serve to directly or indirectly prevent homeowners from installing solar panels simply because the roof is common area or because they have a policy of not permitting roof penetrations.

This Fact Sheet explains HOA solar panel restrictions in California in both contexts (i.e., single-family homes and condominiums). It breaks down what HOAs may lawfully require under Civil Code 714 and 714.1, and what additional condo-specific restrictions apply under Civil Code 4746. It also explains how homeowners can tell the difference between lawful regulation and restrictions that cross the line into an unlawful barrier to going solar.

You can access the other two Fact Sheets in this three-part solar panels series by clicking on “Can a California HOA Stop You from Installing Solar Panels?” or “Can a California HOA Deny Solar Panels on a Condo Roof?”

You can also listen to an episode of my HOA HELL podcast, “Can Your HOA Stop You from Going Solar?”

Key Points

While HOAs are permitted to regulate solar panel installation, California law sharply limits how for those restrictions may go. To facilitate its strong public policy in favor of renewable energy, the Legislature adopted measurable thresholds, strict timelines, and defined conditions that prevent bad HOA boards from using “restrictions” as a backdoor way to block the installation of renewable energy systems, such as solar panels.

• California law limits how much your HOA can increase the cost of your solar panel system. Civil Code 714 prohibits an HOA from imposing any restriction that increases the total cost of a solar panel energy system by more than $1,000. If, for example, your HOA demands alternate placement, custom framing, conduit concealment, screening structures, or other architectural changes that push total installation cost beyond that limit (as compared to the cost submitted in your application), the restriction becomes presumptively unreasonable and unenforceable.
• California law limits how much your HOA’s “restrictions” or “suggestions” can reduce your system’s power output. Civil Code 714 also states that an HOA may not impose any restriction that reduces expected electricity output by more than 10%, measured in kilowatt hours. If a proposed change materially reduces production beyond that threshold, the HOA cannot enforce it. The board must rely on credible evidence, not aesthetic preference or speculation.
• Your HOA must act within 45 calendar days. Civil Code 714 requires an HOA to approve or deny a complete solar application within 45 calendar days. If the HOA fails to act within that period, the application is deemed approved by operation of law. The HOA cannot extend the deadline by remaining silent, demanding informal revisions, or later claiming the application was incomplete.
• Aesthetic guidelines, no matter how otherwise enforceable they may be in other contexts, do not override statutory limits. HOAs often rely on otherwise enforceable architectural guidelines to impose additional solar panel-related design restrictions. While the law permits reasonable restrictions, it defines reasonableness through the $1,000 cost and 10% output limits. An HOA cannot justify unlawful conditions by citing visual harmony, roofline uniformity, or community character.
• Health and safety restrictions must be real, verifiable, and narrowly tailored. Civil Code 714 allows HOAs to impose restrictions necessary to protect health and safety. The HOA must identify a genuine, articulable safety concern supported by credible evidence. A generalized claim that panels might damage the roof, lead to water intrusion events, or affect appearance does not satisfy this standard. And even in those cases, safety-based restrictions may not significantly increase cost or reduce performance beyond statutory limits.
• Condominium solar installations are further governed by the Davis-Stirling Act. Civil Code 4746 allows condominium owners to install solar panels on their pro-rata portion of a common area roof or a designated parking space, subject to specific statutory conditions. The HOA may require insurance, indemnity, maintenance responsibility, and a recordable covenant allocating future costs and liability. The HOA may also prevent one owner’s solar energy system from materially interfering with another owner’s previously installed solar panels. The HOA may not, however, deny installation simply because the roof qualifies as common area.
  • Solar panel restrictions in condos still must comply with cost and performance limits. The additional conditions permitted under Civil Code 4746 do not override the $1,000 cost and 10% output thresholds in Civil Code 714. Simply put, your HOA may not use common area status to impose burdens on you that effectively defeat your installation of solar panels on your pro-rata portion of your condo’s roof.
• HOAs cannot disguise obstruction as legitimate rulemaking. Many bad HOAs attempt to block homeowners from installing solar panels by demanding repeated revisions, imposing unwritten conditions, or stretching review timelines. These tactics do not change the statutory framework, and homeowners should absolutely ignore HOAs who try these tactics. If a restriction exceeds cost or performance limits or if the HOA misses the 45-day deadline, the homeowner retains the right to proceed no matter what.
• California law provides homeowners with powerful enforcement tools. Civil Code 714 allows a homeowner to recover actual damages and authorizes a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for violations. But that’s just the beginning. Homeowners who prevail in legal action against their HOAs to enforce their solar panel-related rights also entitled to an award of their attorneys’ fees and costs, which significantly shifts leverage when a bad HOA is foolish enough to disregard the law.

California’s solar panel laws reflect a strong public policy favoring renewable energy. HOAs may regulate installation procedures, but they may not increase cost beyond $1,000, reduce output beyond 10%, delay approval beyond 45 days, or use condominium status as an excuse to undermine those protections.

If your HOA imposes solar panel restrictions that exceed the limitations described in this, or the prior two Fact Sheets I wrote on the subject, or your HOA limits or attempts to block installation through indirect tactics, call the expert HOA attorneys at MBK Chapman, and we’ll set your HOA straight. No other homeowner-side law firm in California trains its HOA lawyers better than MBK Chapman.

FAQs

About MBK Chapman Fact Sheets

Homeowners searching for answers online will often come across articles that appear authoritative, but are actually written as search-engine marketing content rather than by an experienced HOA lawyer. These pieces tend to prioritize keyword density over clarity, accuracy, or legal context, which often leaves homeowners more confused than informed.

At MBK Chapman, our Fact Sheets are part of our HOA Law Library and are written by Michael Kushner, an HOA lawyer with decades of hands-on experience representing California homeowners. In fact, Michael Kushner is the HOA lawyer who pioneered the systems and strategies used by some of California’s most successful homeowner-side HOA law firms.

Each Fact Sheet is deliberately concise, statute-based, and designed as a quick-reference guide to help homeowners understand key HOA laws and enforcement rules at a glance.

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