{"id":98921,"date":"2022-06-22T13:44:09","date_gmt":"2022-06-22T17:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarpowerworldonline.com\/?p=98921"},"modified":"2022-06-22T13:44:09","modified_gmt":"2022-06-22T17:44:09","slug":"nc-supreme-court-rules-that-hoas-cannot-deny-homeowners-from-installing-solar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarpowerworldonline.com\/2022\/06\/nc-supreme-court-rules-that-hoas-cannot-deny-homeowners-from-installing-solar\/","title":{"rendered":"NC Supreme Court rules that HOAs cannot deny homeowners from installing solar"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, the Supreme Court of North Carolina <a href=\"https:\/\/appellate.nccourts.org\/opinions\/?c=1&amp;pdf=41507\">issued an order<\/a> in a case between a Wake County homeowner and their homeowner\u2019s association (HOA) affirming state law that protects homeowners\u2019 right to install rooftop solar. The North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, submitted a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of the homeowners, as did the North Carolina Attorney General.<\/p>\n<p>The North Carolina Supreme Court reversed a Court of Appeals decision in Belmont Association v. Thomas Farwig, and upheld the right of a homeowner to install rooftop solar that a HOA prohibited, fined, and put a lien on the homeowner\u2019s home for installing. The court held that HOA provisions granting broad discretionary authority to architectural review committees cannot be used to prohibit solar panels. The court also affirmed that the HOA\u2019s architectural review committee could not limit the location of solar panels to the back of the home when that would prevent the reasonable use of the solar panels due to roof orientation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe ruling issued by the North Carolina Supreme Court is a significant achievement for homeowner property rights in North Carolina, affirming access to clean, renewable power for those previously denied by their HOAs,\u201d said Peter Ledford, NCSEA\u2019s General Counsel and Director of Policy. \u201cThis decision will reduce a significant barrier to the residential solar market in North Carolina, supporting jobs in the rooftop solar industry, and helping homeowners lower their utility bills and clean up the grid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"TextRun SCXW72086490 BCX4\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"none\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW72086490 BCX4\">The ruling frees up millions of North Carolina homes located in HOA communities to go solar. Blue Raven Solar, the solar installation company that installed the system at issue in the Raleigh neighborhood, said it could not be happier with the Court\u2019s decision.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span class=\"LineBreakBlob BlobObject DragDrop SCXW72086490 BCX4\"><br class=\"SCXW72086490 BCX4\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"nitro-offscreen\"><span class=\"TextRun SCXW72086490 BCX4\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"none\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW72086490 BCX4\">\u201cNorth Carolina\u2019s homeowners deserve every right to go solar and reduce their utility bills through energy independence,\u201d said Ben Peterson, Blue Raven CEO. \u201cWe are excited about the state\u2019s future with solar energy and the freedom that this decision brings.\u201d <\/span><\/span><span class=\"LineBreakBlob BlobObject DragDrop SCXW72086490 BCX4\"><span class=\"SCXW72086490 BCX4\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span class=\"LineBreakBlob BlobObject DragDrop SCXW72086490 BCX4\"><br class=\"SCXW72086490 BCX4\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"nitro-offscreen\"><span class=\"TextRun SCXW72086490 BCX4\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"none\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW72086490 BCX4\">The HOA had argued that the discretionary denial by its architectural review committee of our customer\u2019s rooftop solar, citing aesthetic problems, was permitted under the state\u2019s solar access law even though the customer and other members of this HOA had no notice of prohibitions or restrictions on rooftop solar. <\/span><\/span><span class=\"LineBreakBlob BlobObject DragDrop SCXW72086490 BCX4\"><span class=\"SCXW72086490 BCX4\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW72086490 BCX4\">The ruling by the North Carolina Supreme Court holds that the state\u2019s solar access law guarantees the use and enjoyment of rooftop solar except for narrow <\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun ContextualSpellingAndGrammarErrorV2Themed SCXW72086490 BCX4\">statutorily-prescribed<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW72086490 BCX4\">\u00a0areas, e.g., roof slopes facing a common area, that are set forth in writing and recorded against the property. The Court also recognized that an HOA requirement that solar to be installed on north-facing roof slopes rather than south-facing slopes amounts to a prohibition of solar rather than just a restriction on panel placement because of the material impact solar panel orientation has on energy production and cost of solar.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>News item from North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association and Blue Raven Solar<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, the Supreme Court of North Carolina issued an order in a case between a Wake County homeowner and their homeowner\u2019s association (HOA) affirming state law that protects homeowners\u2019 right to install rooftop solar. The North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, submitted a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1401,"featured_media":89452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[16,7,5118],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>NC Supreme Court rules that HOAs cannot deny homeowners from installing solar<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Last week, the Supreme Court of North Carolina issued an order in a case between a Wake County homeowner and their homeowner\u2019s association (HOA) 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