Florida COA and HOA Restrictions on Solar Panels; What You Need To Know

Whether you are a member living within a development governed by a homeowners association (“HOA”) or a condominium owners association (COA) and interested in installing solar panels on your home, or a member of the Board of Directors of a HOA, COA, or its respective architectural review committees, (ARC), in Florida, it would behoove you to become familiar with Florida Statute 163.

It is essential that you understand what F.S. 163 says about COA and HOA restrictions on solar panels in so far as its governance and application to energy-saving devices such as solar panels and F.S. 163’s effect on the governing documents of your association.

Clearing the confusion about COA and HOA restrictions on solar panels.

As one would guess, the primary area of dispute in an association-controlled development is not usually the use of solar panels or whether energy-saving devices are permitted or not, but rather, where those panels may or may not be located on the roof of the home or condo.

May the solar panels be seen from the street?

May the solar panels face the street or fence line?

These are some of the questions about HOA restrictions on solar panels that Florida Statute 163 governs and attempts to answer. Florida Statute 163.04(2) expressly prohibits homeowner and condo associations from preventing its members from installing “solar collectors, clotheslines, or other energy devices based on renewable resources from being installed on buildings erected on the lots or parcels covered by the deed restriction, covenant, declaration, or binding agreement.” Id.

However, that very same statute and subsection does permit associations to “determine the specific location where solar collectors may be installed on the roof within an orientation to the south or within 45° east or west of due south if such determination does not impair the effective operation of the solar collectors.”
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