Solar Roof Panels for Townhome

We have an owner who may be interested in installing solar roof panels. This is the first request for review for solar panels in our small townhome community. The HOA is responsible for maintenance of the roofs which are about 18 years old. Also, everyone currently uses gas for heat and water heaters so the electric bill would be small in the winter.

We are open to listening and learning about solar. According to Google Project Sunroof https://sunroof.withgoogle.com/ there is a 14-year break even timeframe for the address if panels are purchased. I do not know if the owner plans to buy or lease the panels at this point.

Does anyone have rules or guidelines for solar roof panels in the townhome HOA that they can share? Do owners need extra insurance for the panels? Our concerns are 4 people sharing a roof, the Board’s roof repair/replacement responsibility, and community acceptance to a project. (Roof replacements planned in about 5 years).

Any advice would be appreciated.

My first blush at this is that it would be an HOA owned feature rather than a homeowner owned feature. I am not sure if each unit is billed for electricity separately, but if so, I am not sure how there would be any ROI for the association.

If billed separately and installed by an owner, I would say that each owner gets equal roof rights, so one owner can use 100% of the roof for something that benefits only their unit.

Sounds like great advice. Do you know if the solar company puts a deed restriction on if owner leases the panels?

First, Brenda, see what your state and municipality'sBuilding Dept. require if anything. In CA, for instance, assn. board must permit Owners of units or townhomes (or detached homes) to install solar on roofs even if common area or limited uses common area. As you can imagine there are many hoops to jump through and the expense to the Owner who wants it is considerable.

When our Board first caught wind of a townhome owner with a common area roof maybe wanting solar, we had our HOA attorney guide us. And his guidelines come from CA Civil code which contains a lot. Tim's good points are just starters.

I would take a look at Davis-stirling.com. "Common Area Roofs & Carports." "Members have the right to install solar energy panels on a common area roof of the building in which the owner resides, or a garage or carport adjacent to the building that has been assigned to the owner for exclusive use. Per Civil Code § 714.1 and § 4746, the following guidelines apply:..." Even though for Calif., it can give you a fine idea of what you'd probably have to go through.

After our assn. paying for th attorney's advice on this, we have good documents, guidelines etc. and the owner declined to pursue it. So I think you want to see what info you cn get cheaply

As usual, JohnC & LetA seem to think that their own documents or their own state laws apply everywhere. They do not.

Bad idea if roof will be replaced soon because of cost to remove and then reattach panels. NC law allows solar to be denied if on front of roof. Pretty sure you can't deny if on rear or side

I looked up NC statue for this -N.C.G.S.22B-20 Deed restrictions and other agreements prohibiting solar collectors.

It appears for HOAs responsible for maintaining building exteriors, solar devices cannot be restricted entirely.

For townhomes -

If an owners' association is responsible for exterior maintenance of a structure containing individual residences, a deed restriction, covenant, or similar binding agreement that runs with the land may provide that

(i) the title owner of the residence shall be responsible for all damages caused by the installation, existence, or removal of solar collectors.

(ii) the title owner of the residence shall hold harmless and indemnify the owners' association for any damages caused by the installation, existence, or removal of solar collectors; and

(iii) the owners' association shall not be responsible for maintenance, repair, replacement, or removal of solar collectors unless expressly agreed in a written agreement that is recorded in the office of the register of deeds in the county or counties in which the property is situated.

In addition to Tim's suggestions for the legal document, you may also want to require professional installation by a vendor who has the necessary licenses and insurance. You don't want an uninsured homeowner who provides no warranties or guarantees climbing around on the roof.

You should also talk to the association's insurance agent and see what sort of new liability issues may arise. FWIW our CC&Rs have a statement that prohibits any modifications to a unit that will change the insurance profile of the community. Something like solar panels would be a no-go in my community, although we're condos which makes a difference.

And while I'm at it, it would be interesting to know how solar panels will affect the remaining useful life of the roof. One homeowner probably wouldn't throw off the reserve study too much, but if many of them decide they want solar panels, it may make a difference.

The HOA could decree the roof color.

Regarding leaks, with multiple owners having solar panels: It's going to be one horror show or another. If the HOA owners can amends the covenants to offload roof responsibility to individual buildings, the board does not have to deal with it.

Changing weather patterns = all matter of horror shows.

Florida is facing another hurricane. We have members here at HOATalk that are still dealing with conflict over hurricane damage that happened several years ago.

You need to take into consideration the construction of the four roofs. Are they actually four separate roofs or are they constructed as one roof with some fire protection in between? If a leak happens, you need to be able to trace it. If the roofs are conjoined, the leak may happen on the far right roof but show up in the ceiling of the home on the far left. Water travels along the beams. It can be a real nightmare.

We have duplexes with a shared roof that are titled as single family homes. This leak issue happens all the time - unit on right actually has the leak but unit on left has the damage.

I am going to be curmudgeonly here. I think an owner that wants a solar panel will prevaricate to his/her heart's delight and possibly have a vendor (eager to be paid by the owner for a solar project) assist him/her in this prevarication.

In this day and age where some states are requiring HOAs/COAs to permit solar panels on roofs, regardless of who has maintenance responsibility for the roof, I think boards are stuck with asking the HOA/COA attorney to come up with a set of guidelines. This will undoubtedly require also hiring a civil engineer or other professional. Who pays the cost of the attorney and technical professional, especially when these costs will not repeat for every owner?

I am pondering.

This forum has seen at least one person in recent months aggressively pursue and demand HOA permission for a solar panel. This was partly due to the owner wanting to qualify for some kind of credit that was set to expire. In this recent instance, IIRC the board resisted, perhaps being due to overwhelmed. But the Board eventually caved. I believe the person who posted here felt it was a major triumph. I thought he was a major, stuck-up ass---- who would never consider all the work these volunteer directors do and the implications down the road of more and more owners putting solar panels on HOA-owned roofs.

I say with townhomes (and recognizing the problems with electricity these days, due to changing weather patterns and more in some parts of the country): Amend the governing documents a.s.a.p. and shove the responsibility for the roofs onto the owners of the respective buildings.

Whoa whoa whoa. The Belmont v. Farwig decision involved single family houses on separate lots, where the owners had the maintenance responsibility for the roofs.

By contrast, your HOA has the maintenance responsibility for the roofs.

You now are adding specificity to your query here. Namely, could your townhome community flat-out deny the request? This forum would need more information about your HOA to see where your HOA lands in the context of NC statutes § 22B-20

For example:

Is your HOA subject to Chapter 47A or 47C of the NC General Statutes? If so, then it's possible your HOA can prohibit solar panels on roofs.

Would the roof-top solar panels face common area? If so, then it's possible your HOA can lawfully prohibit solar panels.

And since they ARE townhouse, I can just imagine the scenerio John described with buildings that have panels and some not, not to mention the ensuing drama when something goes haywire and affects more than the solar owner's section of roof and now his/her neighbors are compelled to help pay for repairs they didn't cause and neither did Mother Nature. Too much damned drama for me.

I know there have been all sorts of battles in this state about solar panels and the legislature passed a law that does some of what you described (don't remember all the details, sorry). However, I suspect they had detached single family homes on the brain and no one has thought about the implications for townhouse communities.

Sometimes one really needs to apply careful thought to the process and I fully expect this owner was persuaded by the solar company (they're trying to sell the things, so why wouldn't they?) But as everyone has said there may be a ton of unintended consequences no one's thought about and since roofs are usually considered common area everyone's responsible for, they need to know what they're getting into. This isn't the same as getting approved for a garage door or patio fence.

From Davis-Stirling.com "Solar Energy " The below applies to CA, but gives good tips on what words to use to protect their associations if they must permit solar on roofs.A great deal of the responsibility falls upon the owner, not the assn. Don't miss the last paragraph.

"Common Area Roofs & Carports. Members have the right to install solar energy panels on a common area roof of the building in which the owner resides, or a garage or carport adjacent to the building that has been assigned to the owner for exclusive use. Per Civil Code § 714.1 and § 4746, the following guidelines apply:

the system must meet applicable building codes;
the system must receive the association's approval (which cannot be unreasonably withheld);
the association may include provisions for the maintenance, repair, or replacement of roofs or other building components;
the association may require installers indemnify the association and pay for any damage;
the association may require a site survey showing placement of the panels and equitable allocation of usable area among owners sharing the same roof, garage, or carport;
applicants must notify each owner of a unit in the building on which the installation will be located of the application to install a solar energy system;
the owner and each successive owner must maintain a homeowner liability coverage policy at all times and provide the association with the corresponding certificate of insurance within 14 days of approval of the application and annually thereafter;
disclose to prospective buyers the existence of the solar energy system and their responsibilities to maintain and pay any damage to the common areas.

Architectural Review. If an application is not denied in writing within 45 days from the date of receipt of the application, the application shall be deemed approved, unless that delay is the result of a reasonable request for additional information. If approvals are willfully avoided or delayed, an association can be penalized up to $1,000. (Civ. Code § 714(f).) Aesthetics are a proper part of the architectural review process, provided it does not significantly increase the cost of the installation. (Tesoro v. Griffen.)

Recommendation: Whenever a solar energy system is installed by an owner on a common area roof (or anywhere in the common areas), a covenant should be prepared by legal counsel for signature by the owner and recordation with the County Recorder obligating the owner (and all future owners) to properly maintain the system, repair any damage to the common areas related to or arising from the owner's solar energy system, and indemnifying the association in the event it is sued because of the solar energy system.

Kerry

This is all very helpful information. I appreciate it very much. We will take it all into consideration with our upcoming meetings.

Then to me, the signs are strong that your townhome HOA may not prohibit the installation of solar panels. Your HOA may impose reasonable rules for the solar panels' installation.