Checked September 26, 2026
It depends on your state.
Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Texas, California and North Carolina have statutes that make HOA rules banning home solar unenforceable, at least for some installations, while still letting the association set rules on placement, appearance and approval, but in Kansas, Georgia, Kentucky and Oklahoma no statewide statute was found, so the HOA's own governing documents control. This is general information, not legal advice.
Most of these statutes still let an association adopt reasonable rules about where panels go and how they look, as long as the rules do not block the system or cut its performance beyond limits set in the law. California, Illinois and Michigan limit HOA rules that would cut a system's efficiency or production by more than 10 percent, and Texas lets an owner use a roof spot other than the one the HOA designates if it would raise estimated yearly production by more than 10 percent. Texas and Michigan let an association require that roof panels follow the slope of the roof and that visible frames and wiring be silver, bronze or black. North Carolina lets covenants bar collectors that can be seen from the ground on a facade or roof slope facing areas open to common or public access. Shared roofs and common areas are often treated differently, as in Illinois, Michigan and California.
Several of these laws set rules for how an HOA must handle a solar request. In California, an association must approve or deny in writing, and an application not denied in writing within 45 days is deemed approved unless the delay comes from a reasonable request for more information. Illinois and Michigan give an association 30 days to act on an application, or 120 days if it has not yet adopted its solar policy statement, and let the owner proceed without fines if the association misses the deadline, with Illinois first requiring written notice and 10 business days to cure. Michigan requires the written application to include the owner's name, the installation address, the installer's name and contact information, an image of the layout and a description of the system. Texas lets an association require prior approval from the association or a committee that decides within a reasonable period or a period set in the governing documents.
In Kansas, Georgia, Kentucky and Oklahoma, no statewide statute limiting HOA solar rules was found, so the covenants and architectural rules in the HOA's governing documents control. Bills to add protection have not become law: Kansas Senate Bill 506 of 2024 and Senate Bill 144 of the 2025 and 2026 session are both marked as died, Georgia House Bill 389 was withdrawn and recommitted in February 2025, and Oklahoma House Bill 1023 passed the House in 2023 but shows no action after it was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. A 2024 survey map by the Kansas Legislative Research Department also showed all four states as having no legislation on HOA solar restrictions. This is general information, not legal advice.
State by state
The 10 states we cover. Each answer links to the law itself and to that state's solar page.
Missouri law says deed restrictions and covenants may not limit or prohibit solar panels on the rooftop of a property, but only for rooftops the individual owner owns, controls and maintains, and a 2026 Missouri Supreme Court decision noted on the official statute page applies this to covenants written before the law took effect. An HOA may adopt reasonable placement rules that do not prevent installation, impair how the device works, restrict its use, or adversely affect its cost or efficiency.
Revised Statutes of Missouri Section 442.404, subsection 3 (solar panels), RSMo 442.404.3 · Missouri solar rules
No statewide statute was found that limits HOA rules on solar in Kansas, so the HOA's governing documents control. Bills to invalidate restrictive covenants that limit or prohibit solar panels, Senate Bill 506 in 2024 and Senate Bill 144 in the 2025 and 2026 session, are both marked as died on the Legislature's site.
The Illinois Homeowners' Energy Policy Statement Act bars homeowners', common interest community and condominium associations from prohibiting solar energy systems or requiring a specific technology such as solar shingles, and it requires a written energy policy statement and a decision on applications within set deadlines. An association may set standards on location, design and architectural requirements and may choose the layout on a roof face if production drops by no more than 10 percent, but the Act does not apply to buildings taller than 60 feet or buildings with a shared roof.
Homeowners' Energy Policy Statement Act, 765 ILCS 165 · Illinois solar rules
Michigan's Homeowners' Energy Policy Act, in effect since April 2, 2025, makes HOA provisions that prohibit or effectively prohibit solar energy systems unenforceable, but it does not apply in common areas or on shared roofs. An association may still deny a roof system that extends above or beyond the roof by more than 6 inches, does not follow the roof slope, or has visible frames or wiring that are not silver, bronze or black, and may deny a yard system taller than the fence line.
Homeowners' Energy Policy Act (2024 Public Act 68), MCL 559.301 to 559.317 · Michigan solar rules
No statewide statute was found that limits HOA rules on solar in Georgia, so the HOA's governing documents control. House Bill 389, which would have barred HOAs from preventing solar energy devices, was withdrawn and recommitted to committee in February 2025 with no later action shown on the General Assembly's site.
No statewide statute was found that limits HOA rules on solar in Kentucky, so the HOA's governing documents control. Kentucky's 2023 Planned Community Act, codified at KRS 381.785 to 381.801, does not mention solar.
No statewide statute was found that limits HOA rules on solar in Oklahoma, so the HOA's governing documents control. House Bill 1023 of 2023, on owners associations and solar energy, passed the House but shows no action after it was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Texas Property Code Section 202.010 bars a property owners' association from prohibiting or restricting solar energy devices, including solar roof tiles, but it may still require prior approval, limit devices to the roof or a fenced yard or patio, and set rules on roofline height, roof slope, designated roof areas and the color of visible frames and wiring. An association may also bar devices on association or commonly owned property or ones that void material warranties, and during the development period a declarant of a development with fewer than 51 planned residential units may prohibit or restrict them.
Texas Property Code Section 202.010, Regulation of Solar Energy Devices, Tex. Prop. Code § 202.010 · Texas solar rules
California Civil Code Section 714 makes covenants and HOA rules that effectively prohibit or restrict solar energy systems void, while allowing reasonable restrictions that do not significantly raise cost or cut efficiency, and an application not denied in writing within 45 days is deemed approved unless the delay comes from a reasonable request for more information. Under Sections 714.1 and 4746, an association can control installations in common areas and set added conditions, such as notice to other owners and liability insurance, for systems on a multifamily common area roof.
California Civil Code Section 714 (with Sections 714.1 and 4746), Cal. Civ. Code § 714 · California solar rules
North Carolina voids deed restrictions and covenants that would prohibit, or have the effect of prohibiting, solar collectors on residential property, though the law does not cover condominiums in multistory buildings. Covenants may still regulate location and screening if they do not prevent reasonable use, and may bar collectors visible from the ground on a facade or roof slope facing areas open to common or public access, or in the area in front of that facade.
Deed restrictions and other agreements prohibiting solar collectors, G.S. 22B-20 · North Carolina solar rules
Questions
In some states it can limit placement. North Carolina allows covenants that bar collectors visible from the ground on a facade or roof slope facing areas open to common or public access, and Texas lets an association designate roof areas unless another spot would raise estimated yearly production by more than 10 percent. Illinois and Michigan do not let an association prohibit panels on any roof face, although Illinois lets it set the layout on a roof face within a 10 percent production limit.
Often not fully. Illinois excludes buildings with a shared roof or taller than 60 feet, Michigan's act does not apply on shared roofs or in common areas, Missouri's rule covers only rooftops the owner owns, controls and maintains, and North Carolina's law does not cover condominiums in multistory buildings. California lets owners seek approval for systems on a multifamily common area roof, but the association must require notice to the other owners in the building and liability insurance, and may require a solar site survey that fairly divides the usable roof area.
Illinois and Michigan say an association cannot make approval depend on the approval of adjacent property owners. In Texas, once a request meets the allowed rules, an association may withhold approval only by finding in writing that the placement would substantially interfere with the use and enjoyment of land, and written approval from all adjoining owners is prima facie evidence that no such condition exists. In states without a statewide statute, the HOA's governing documents set the approval rules.
The federal residential clean energy credit, section 25D, ended for home solar expenditures made after December 31, 2025, under the law signed July 4, 2025. The IRS treats the expenditure as made when installation is completed, so a system completed in 2026 does not qualify even if it was paid for earlier.
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