For a town
home community where the member owned the entire town home (inside and out) we had the following:
Prior Approval from the Architectural Committee for the installation of Solar Power or Solar Hot Water Panels is required. This approval is in addition to any required county permits. The following guidelines should be considered when submitting a request for approval:
• Placement of Solar panels used for the benefit of individual lots on Common Property is prohibited. The Association may place solar panels on common property for the benefit of the entire community (solar powered street lighting as an example).
• Large solar panels may only be placed on the rear slope of the lots roof and may not extend above the ridge line. The Association is aware that this will limit the effectiveness of these panels for some lots but believes that communities visual appearance as a Colonial Style mandates this requirement.
• Small solar panels, such as those used for landscape lighting, will be considered for placement in the front or side of the house on a case by case basis and judged on it’s own merits as to the visual harmony of a Colonial Style community.
The Association shall not be required to alter or remove any landscaping on common property to increase the efficiency of any solar panel
However, per
IL Homeowners' Energy Policy Statement Act, it appears that an HOA might be only to regulate that panels are not installed on common areas.
Whatever policy your board writes, make sure it's in compliance with this IL statute.