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Can Your California HOA Stop You from Going Solar?

by | HOAs, Real Estate

CALIFORNIA HOA RESTRICTIONS ON SOLAR PANEL INSTALLATION

OVERVIEW

More and more California homeowners are choosing to install solar. And for good reason. With utility rates climbing, rebate programs still available in some markets, and long-term savings nearly guaranteed, solar isn’t just about the environment anymore—it’s about economics. But what happens when your HOA says no? Or, as is typically the case given California’s more and more publicized public policy favoring solar access, when your HOA tries to impose ridiculous restrictions on your solar power plans?

That’s exactly the issue that I addressed in Episode 23 of the HOA HELL podcast, titled “Can Your HOA Stop You from Going Solar? What California Law Really Says.” In that episode, I walked viewers through the legal framework that protects homeowners in California from HOAs that try to overstep, and explained how boards continue to ignore those protections—even in ways that are flatly illegal.

This article expands on those points. If your HOA has dragged its feet on your solar application, insisted on expensive aesthetic changes, or flat-out denied your request without any explanation, keep reading. California law is almost certainly on your side. If you’re interested in more fact-specific information on your rights to solar power, check out my Fact Sheets “Can a California HOA Stop You from Installing Solar Panels?,” “HOA Solar Panel Restrictions in California,” or “Can a California HOA Deny Solar Panels on a Condo Roof?”

CALIFORNIA LAW STRONGLY FAVORS ACCESS TO SOLAR POWER

California law doesn’t just allow solar—it aggressively protects it. Civil Code sections 714, 714.1, and 4746 (the latter of which is part of the Davis-Stirling Act) work together to prohibit HOAs from adopting or enforcing any covenant, restriction, condition, or rule that “effectively prohibits or restricts” the installation of a solar energy system. That phrase—“effectively prohibits”—is important. The law doesn’t require a complete ban to trigger protection. It only requires that the board’s conduct makes the project unreasonably difficult, costly, or inefficient.

That distinction is critical because many HOAs still try to block solar installations through indirect means—e.g., under aesthetic guidelines, architectural conditions, approval delays, and “compromise” requirements that sound reasonable but, in practice, destroy the viability of the system.

Under Section 714, however, the only restrictions an HOA may impose on owners of single-family homes (or townhomes where the owners own their roofs—I’ll address some additional permitted restrictions regarding shared roofs, like those found in condominiums, below) are those that:

  • Do not increase the total cost of the system by more than $1,000.
  • Do not reduce the system’s expected electricity output by more than 10% (as measured in kilowatt hours).

And, an HOA only has 45 calendar days to approve or deny an application, or the application is automatically deemed approved. Any restriction that exceeds either of those thresholds is presumed unreasonable, and therefore legally invalid. That means silence on the part of your HOA isn’t neutral. It’s automatic approval, and thus any HOA that misses the 45-day window loses the right to impose any restrictions (other than, perhaps, those related to valid safety concerns, which probably cannot be so easily waived).

Let me give you an example. Let’s say that your HOA tells you the panels must be installed at the rear slope of your roof to “preserve architectural uniformity.” Your solar installer can easily provide you with the data showing how the suggested changes will affect your cost and energy output. And if, in this example, your solar installer tells you that abiding by the HOA’s request will reduce solar energy output by, say, 16%, then your HOA cannot make the demand. And if they insist on doing so anyways—especially if they don’t have their own expert consultant to counter your installer’s data—then your HOA has violated Civil Code section 714.

Or, let’s say that your HOA demands that your panels be framed in a custom trim to match the roof tiles, increasing the cost by $1,800. That might look nicer, but under California law, it’s a violation. The statute doesn’t care about aesthetics or visual harmony. It cares about whether or not the restriction increases the cost of your system by more than $1,000. If it does, the restriction is illegal. End of story.

One last example. Let’s say that you file your application with your HOA and they fail to approve or deny the application until 47 days after you submitted it. Your application is deemed automatically approved, and you can proceed with installation regardless of what your HOA might later tell you.

Finally, I feel compelled to mention that the performance and cost thresholds discussed above are not things that a homeowner will ever have to calculate or discover for themselves. The companies who handle the solar installations are experienced dealing with HOA boards, and their services routinely include not just providing you with the energy figures that you might need, but their services also almost always include preparation of the application (and even submittal to your HOA).

WHAT ABOUT CONDOMINIUMS, WHERE COMMON AREA ROOFS ARE INVOLVED?

California does not ignore condominium owners. Civil Code sections 714 and 714.1 apply to condominiums as well, meaning that the same protections available to homeowners who live in single-family homes also apply to condo owners. But, the Davis-Stirling Act fills in the gaps left by sections 714 and 714.1 by explicitly addressing some unique realities regarding shared/common area roofs.

In short, Civil Code section 4746 allows individual owners to install solar energy systems on their pro-rata portions of their common area roof (or parking space), providing that certain conditions are met. Indeed, while the same law protecting single-family homeowners’ right to install solar panels exists for owners of multi-family units, like condominiums, in the case of homes with common area roofs, the statute does allow HOAs to impose additional restrictions, such as:

  • Not permitting a condo owner’s panels from interfering with another owner’s existing panels (i.e., if installation of an owner’s panels would negatively impact another owner’s panels, the HOA can reject the application).
  • Requiring condo owners to carry certain insurance and to name the HOA as an additional insured.
  • Requiring condo owners to enter into recordable covenants requiring the owners to take full financial responsibility for any maintenance or damage caused by the installation or existence of the panels.

Your HOA may not like it when a condo owner wants to use part of the common area roof to install solar panels. They might even try to tell you that “the roof isn’t yours.” But unless they can point to a specific violation of the section 4746 requirements, they don’t have the authority to say no.

DESPITE THE LAW’S CLARITY, MANY HOAs STILL INSIST ON PLAYING GAMES

Civil Code sections 714, 714.1, and 4746 are clear. But that hasn’t stopped HOAs from trying to work around them. In fact, many California HOAs still act like they’re operating in a pre-solar world by, for example, treating a solar installation request as if it was just another architectural modification, and so they apply the same generic approval processes without adjusting for the unique legal protections required by law.

Most often, here’s how HOAs play that game:

  • They pretend that Civil Code section 714 doesn’t exist by insisting that you make changes that reduce the energy output of your intended solar system by more than 10% or increase the cost of installation by more than $1,000.
  • They delay approvals beyond the statutory timeline.
  • They impose conditions that aren’t spelled out in writing.
  • They deny applications without stating a clear reason.
  • They make informal demands, hoping homeowners will just give up.
  • They feign ignorance, insisting that they’re simply “following the rules.”

Worse, many boards rely on people who are paid to know better, such as management companies, who, in many cases, end up being as unfamiliar with the law as the board members. These companies often recycle outdated application procedures and assume that solar can be treated like landscaping or paint colors.

To be clear, California law gives HOAs limited authority to impose “reasonable restrictions”—but it defines what is and isn’t reasonable. And anything that violates the performance or cost thresholds is, by definition, unreasonable and unenforceable. Likewise, HOAs don’t get to extend the 45-day approval period by claiming, for example, that an owner’s application was incomplete. Why? Because the remedy for that is to deny the application for being incomplete, not just ignoring it. If the latter occurs, then the HOA waives its right to enforce.

WHAT ABOUT HEALTH & SAFETY CONCERNS?

California law does allow HOAs to impose reasonable restrictions related to health and safety—but that exception is narrowly drawn, which is why I didn’t include in when I discussed the restrictions above.

Under Civil Code section 714(c)(1) and (c)(3), HOAs may adopt restrictions to ensure health and safety, but only if those restrictions do not significantly increase cost or reduce energy output. In other words, safety concerns cannot be used as a backdoor excuse to block the system.

And the HOA actually has to demonstrate a real threat to health or safety, not just a theoretical one. So, if the board wants to deny your application on safety grounds, they need clear, articulable evidence. That typically means a written finding based on professional input—such as an engineer’s report or a dangerous violation of the building code. Without that, the “safety” rationale will not hold up.

HOMEOWNERS HAVE POWERFUL TOOLS TO ENFORCE THEIR RIGHTS

If a homeowner’s HOA denies the owner’s solar application without a valid reason—or fails to respond within 45 days—the homeowner is far from powerless.

Civil Code section 714(f) not only allows a homeowner to sue for their actual damages associated with the HOA’s illegal denial, but it also allows for the imposition of a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for any violation of the law. And Civil Code section 714(g) provides that the prevailing homeowner is entitled to recover attorney’s fees and costs in any action to enforce the statutes. That’s a powerful weapon in a homeowner’s arsenal because it means that if the homeowner is forced to take legal action to compel compliance, and wins, the HOA will have to reimburse the homeowner for his or her attorneys’ fees and costs. Fortunately, this fee shifting provision is often enough to convince a board to comply when it becomes obvious that the homeowner knows his or her rights.

CONCLUDING THOUGHT

California law doesn’t leave solar access up to the whims of HOA boards. It lays out a detailed statutory framework with specific thresholds, deadlines, and enforcement mechanisms.

HOAs cannot prohibit solar. They cannot impose restrictions that increase cost by more than $1,000 or reduce annual energy output by more than 10%. They cannot delay past 45 days. And they cannot use “safety” as a pretext without real evidence.

Whether you own a single-family home or a unit in a multi-family community, the law gives you the right to go solar, as well as the tools to fight back if your HOA stands in the way.

If they cross the line, call the expert HOA attorneys at MBK CHAPMAN, and we’ll set your HOA straight.