Homeowners` associations (HOAs) have long prevented residents from installing solar panels because they look from common areas. In the United States, where more than half of the nation`s neighborhoods are governed by HOA (CC&R) conventions, conditions, and restrictions, these contracts are one of the most common hurdles faced by potential solar home owners. NCSEA and other solar advocacy organizations have since set out to fight to roll back these solar restrictions by collecting stories from solar customers, supporting bills to lift HOA installation restrictions, and allowing homeowners to negotiate with their HOAs. While there are many success stories, we still have a long way to go before rooftop solar systems are accessible to everyone. Except as provided in subparagraph (d), any document restriction, agreement or similar binding agreement with the Land which prohibits or would prohibit the installation of a solar panel. For a residential property on land subject to the restriction of the deed, the federal government or the agreement is null and void. Tom Farwig set out to install solar panels on his roof with the help of Blue Raven Solar, a Utah-based solar energy company with offices in North Carolina. His HOA, the Belmont Community Association, responded by fining the owner (which he paid regularly) and then suing him. Farwig disagreed, saying the HOA violated North Carolina`s Solar Access Act because solar panels are not specifically banned in the rules. However, the HOA argued that solar panels fall under the “improvements” included in EC rules.

In the area crossing a line through the façade of the building extending to the boundaries of the property on either side of the façade and to the shared or public access areas facing the structure. As an exception to the above provision, paragraph (c) authorizes a “document restriction, agreement or similar binding agreement that does not prevent the appropriate use of a solar panel for residential property.” On the other hand, Tom Farwig — along with rooftop solar companies, clean energy advocates and the state`s attorney general — had claimed that the law explicitly imposed a HOA ban on street signs like his. The North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Belmont. However, clean energy advocates, the rooftop solar industry, and even North Carolina`s attorney general have all filed briefs in support of Farwig. The case has now gone to the North Carolina Supreme Court, and the result will surely set a precedent for the amount of energy HOAs have compared to solar. A quarter of all North Carolina residents and about 40% of homeowners live in more than 14,000 HOA communities across the state. The Court`s decision could shed further light on thousands of these developments after 2007. To avoid curbside solar panels, homeowner associations must now do so explicitly in their alliances. But in a 4-3 decision, the Supreme Court said panels should be allowed. Because neighborhood agreements do not specifically prohibit solar panels, the court ruled that a review panel cannot enforce a ban.

“This move will reduce a significant barrier to the residential solar market in North Carolina,” Peter Ledford, general counsel for the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association, said in a press release. The move will remove a significant barrier to North Carolina`s residential solar market, support rooftop solar jobs, and help homeowners lower utility bills and clean up the grid. In general, the State of North Carolina encourages the development and use of solar resources by prohibiting deed restrictions, agreements, and other similar agreements that prohibit or prohibit the installation and use of a solar energy system for residential property. However, there are exceptions to this general rule that allow HOAs to regulate the location and shielding of solar panels in a community. See N.C. Gen. Stat. § 22B-20. The North Carolina Supreme Court recently issued an important opinion outlining the provisions of NC Gen. Stat. 22B-20 and discusses the power of HOAs to regulate and prohibit the installation and use of solar panels in planned communities: Belmont Ass`n, Inc.

v. Farwig, 2022-NCSC-64. Blue Raven Solar, like many solar energy companies, typically doesn`t install solar panels without HOA`s approval. But due to a mistake, the company installed the solar panels without Belmont`s permission. Five months later, HOA asked Farwig for a request, and Blue Raven Solar delivered it. The permit even included the signatures of 22 other Belmont residents who supported the installation of solar panels. The substance of the parties` action concerned the interpretation of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 22B-20.

The relevant part of paragraph (b) of the Act provides: Accordingly, the Court held that ARC`s restriction on the use of solar panels was contrary to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 22B-(20)(b). Many homeowners associations limit the installation of solar panels based on their appearance. They usually don`t fit the aesthetics of the neighborhood. And with more than 14,000 HOAs in North Carolina alone, that means there are millions of potential solar home owners who aren`t taking full advantage of these solar panels. For too long, North Carolina homeowners have lived in uncertainty about whether our solar access law would protect their right to solar energy when the opinions of their respective homeowners` associations hesitated against it. Ask yourself if this decision depends on who owns the roof: the owner or the corporation. The same goes for condominium corporations and co-ops. I have seen roof ownership in both directions, in multi-family and single-family homes.

This becomes more difficult in the multi-storey area when “shares” of the roof area for solar energy are granted by the association via an easement. What about repairing or replacing the roof then? Who pays for PV removal and renovation? And how will homeowners or primary policy insurers establish coverage? PV on my home is insured as personal property of Florida citizens. But many companies will NOT insure solar panels. Solar access on the ground is ahead of the curve despite the slow legislative process. For years, longtime NCSEA member Yes Solar Solutions has helped homeowners negotiate with HOAs that initially limited access to rooftop solar systems. The company not only helps homeowners install solar panels, but also facilitates downstream negotiations with HOAs. “We are helping to prepare the […] Data sheets of the products offered for installation,” said Kathy Miller, CEO of Yes Solar Solutions. “[We document] why the grid is placed as it is, how much energy is saved, [and provide] a rendering of the grid on the roof and any licenses, etc.” After working with the company, one of his customers in Cary finally won a call to his HOA to install his solar panel on a publicly accessible roof after being rejected twice. It was a collaborative effort: the client requested the installation by collecting the signatures of his neighbors who lived in a house within sight of his own; Yes Solar Solutions documented the inefficiency of installing the module on the north roof, estimated a 4% increase in the home`s resale value, and showed photos of the beauty of the black units on its dark gray roof. The law states that any homeowner who is a member of an HOA that has codified the rules (passed or amended after 2019), or who has already decided that solar panels cannot be installed in the community, may ask other members of the homeowners association for permission to install a solar energy system on the housing unit or property of the owner. Once the owners have collected the signatures of 65% of HOA residents, the HOA Board of Directors, an architectural review committee, or an HOA architectural control committee cannot deny the owner`s request to install the solar energy system.