Have you seen rooftop solar panels lately? These days, they look a lot different than older styles. They’re sleeker, have a matte finish that reduces glare, and sit low on the roof to minimize aesthetic concerns. Generally, a reasonable rooftop solar installation is not an aesthetic issue.

Functionally, rooftop solar is also really useful. In our current energy crisis, when we need all the energy we can get, solar panels produce a ton of energy when we need it most (during peak periods of the day when energy demand is highest).

Yet many Homeowners Associations (HOAs) still seem to fear rooftop solar on a neighbor’s house.

We need to convince HOAs that reasonable rooftop solar systems don’t burden neighbors. The pros outweigh the cons, and the impacts to neighbors are so minimal (if anything) that they shouldn’t override an owner’s property rights.

Let’s dive in and discuss.

Why HOAs shouldn’t have the last word on rooftop solar

Maybe not a popular opinion (or at least I have a lot of institutional opposition), but HOAs shouldn’t be able to institute outright bans on rooftop solar. That may have been relevant decades ago, when rooftop solar systems were bulkier and more obvious from the street. But times are changing. We have a dire need for more energy generation, and rooftop solar systems continue to benefit from enhanced design.

Property rights considerations

First and foremost, HOA bans on the reasonable installation of rooftop solar systems are a property rights issue. Homeowners who own their roof outright should be able to choose their energy source and use their roof as they please (provided it has no material impact on neighbors).

Even when allowed, overly restrictive covenants can force homeowners into worse panel placement (less sun exposure) or block installation entirely, reducing the economic payoff of an investment they’re otherwise entitled to make.

With updated designs, rooftop solar panels have almost no impact on neighbors (if any). As you can see in the image above (my house), the panels have less glare than my windows. They make no noise and give off no air pollution. They don’t use my neighbors’ resources. When designed and installed reasonably, they just don’t harm a neighbor’s property values or their quality of life.

Increased home values

Rooftop solar does not negatively impact a neighbor’s property value. In fact, research shows that rooftop solar actually increases home values. This study is a bit dated, but it shows that homeowner-owned rooftop solar increases home value by $4 per watt installed. A more recent study shows that rooftop solar increases a home’s value by 5-10%. Increased home values are good for the neighbors too!

Applying the findings from the studies above to our house suggests a 1.5x to 2x return on investment for our panels, based on increased home value alone. That doesn’t account for the savings that accumulate from reduced PECO bills over the panels’ expected 25-year life. Because home values are heavily influenced by neighboring home values, a home’s value increase from rooftop solar could “rub off” on neighbors’ homes as well.

Climate and energy grid policy goals

On a macro level, rooftop solar adds more energy to the grid when we desperately need it. As electricity demand rises, widespread adoption of rooftop solar systems can meaningfully reduce our supply-and-demand imbalance. More supply to meet growing demand helps lower prices.

Rooftop solar also supports clean-energy and emissions reduction objectives. Climate change is here; it’s no longer a future problem. (How about those crazy storms lately?!) A patchwork of HOA bans indirectly undercuts efforts to achieve clean energy targets.

Want to know more about why my rooftop solar system is good for you, even if you don’t have rooftop solar? Grab a drink and sip while you read this annoyingly long piece.

The HOA case against rooftop solar

If I got a dollar for every person who told me they couldn’t get rooftop solar because their HOA prohibited it, I might have paid for my solar panels by now. Clearly, many HOAs have a bone to pick with even reasonable rooftop solar installations. What’s the argument?

Aesthetic and property-value consistency

HOAs exist partly to maintain a uniform look that some homeowners believe protects resale values. The argument is that solar panels can look visually inconsistent with a community’s design standards.

While that might be true, I’m willing to bet zero prospective buyers fall in love with a house, then decide they can’t buy it or have to pay less because the neighbor has a standard rooftop solar system. (My ‘zero’ assessment is clearly not scientific, but everyday buyers are not judging a house’s value by a few matte black solar panels on a neighboring roof.)

Contractual freedom

Homeowners voluntarily join an HOA and agree to its covenants. Supporters of HOA rooftop solar bans argue the state shouldn’t override a private contract people knowingly signed.

Technically, this is true. But reality rings slightly differently. So many neighborhoods have HOAs that it’s rarely a real choice to avoid one when a prospective buyer is working within a particular budget and geographic location. It’s a choice, but not really.

Also, much has changed since many of these HOA agreements were established. Rooftop solar technology has matured and is more streamlined, aesthetically pleasing, and efficient (so fewer panels yield a much better financial return).

We’re also in the midst of a severe energy crisis. When circumstances change, sometimes the rules and regulations need to change. “Because that’s the way it’s always been” is never a good reason to maintain the status quo.

Today, we’re in the throes of a total paradigm shift around energy in our country and globally. Residents who agreed to a contract decades ago (or even just a few years ago) should have a chance to invest in something that’s much more financially, geopolitically, and aesthetically attractive today and that also helps us all get closer to energy independence, stability, and affordability.

Installation quality/safety oversight

In some circumstances, rules against rooftop solar stem from safety concerns. A desire to have quality or safety restrictions makes sense. Guardrails (not outright bans) allow associations to require standards for mounting specs, glare mitigation, and fire-safety clearances. These are reasonable requirements and not uncommon under municipal permitting requirements too. Reasonable rooftop solar installations easily work within safety confines (or there wouldn’t be millions of them around the world).

Local control

Some conservatives frame the prohibition of HOA regulations (by a state government, for example) as government overreach into private associations’ governance, preferring that associations resolve such issues internally.

I think this argument is empty. If they want local control and believe in property rights, what’s more local and more respectful of personal property rights than letting an individual homeowner decide? Why give neighbors veto rights over an individual property-rights decision that has no meaningful impact on them or their homes?

Rooftop solar HOA legislation in Harrisburg

Chances are you wouldn’t even notice rooftop solar systems if you didn’t already know to look for them. That’s kind of the point. It’s also exactly the argument at the center of a bill that’s been stuck in the Pennsylvania Senate since July.

House Bill 1239 would stop homeowners’ associations from banning rooftop solar outright on individually owned roofs. Under the proposed bill, associations could still set reasonable rules around placement, glare, and how it looks from the street. But they cannot prohibit the solar system altogether. Moreover, the bill does not apply to shared roofs on common areas that an association might be responsible for maintaining.

The PA House passed this bill on July 1 by a vote of 109–93. Rep. Craig Williams, who represents part of our area, voted against it. He specifically noted his preference for “local control” over these types of issues; the argument I noted above is especially empty.

Side note: I don’t have ESP, but I suspect the real reason Williams is against the bill is that it makes it easier for residents to install rooftop solar. He works for the fossil fuel companies, not for us. Don’t believe me? Check his campaign finance reports. 💰 Fossil fuel companies see rooftop solar as direct competition for their products, and Craig works hard to put wrenches in fossil fuel competition seemingly every darn day in Harrisburg.

Back to the bill…

HB 1239 landed in the Senate Urban Affairs & Housing Committee on July 9 and hasn’t moved. It’s not alone. A separate community energy bill from Rep. Peter Schweyer passed the House in May with even more bipartisan support (114-89) and has been sitting in a different Senate committee just as long.

The Republican-controlled PA Senate is incredibly stingy about passing any legislation that could help renewable energy. Like Craig, several of their leaders are bedfellows with fossil fuel industry folk (especially the natural gas crews in western Pennsylvania). If we want more clean energy in PA (even just an “all of the above, let the market decide” approach), we desperately need to flip the Senate out of Republican control.

Passing House Bill 1239 in Harrisburg would open many doors for our Pennsylvania neighbors to bypass unreasonable HOA bans on rooftop solar and invest in more affordable energy independence and the energy of the future.

Come see rooftop solar instead of debating it

That’s my house up there in the photo. 👆🏻 Is this the “ugly rooftop solar” an HOA board thinks will tank a neighbor’s resale value? You probably didn’t even notice the panels until I mentioned them. That little fawn with its white spots is way more eye-catching, and my trash can and recycling bin are much uglier (should we ban those too?).

Panels today sit low-profile, follow the roofline, and, on a lot of houses, you’d need to look for them to notice at all. The “reasonable restrictions” language built into HB 1239 addresses glare limits, placement rules, and sightline considerations. It just removes the ability to enforce outright bans on rooftop solar, no matter how good the installation looks.

Friends, we are in an energy crisis. We need more generation badly. Now’s the time to reflect on and rewrite old rules. Let’s unleash affordable, homegrown American energy, especially the kind that comes free from the sun and grows right on our own property.

I’m hosting an open house on September 13, 2–4 PM, called Electrify Everything at Home. You can see my house, mostly electrified over several years: rooftop solar, heat pump, induction stove, two EVs, no drama. TerraSol Energies (who installed my rooftop solar system) and Chadds Ford Complete Services (who installed our heat pump) will both be there to answer the technical questions.

If you’re on an HOA board that bans rooftop solar, or you know someone who is, this is a genuinely good use of an afternoon. Come see a real system: the panels, the inverter, the app showing production in real time. This isn’t a pitch to install anything. It’s a chance to see up close what all the hubbub is about and how rooftop solar systems are far less scary than their reputation suggests.

Registration for the open house is required — [REGISTRATION LINK]. I listed the location as near Whole Foods in Glen Mills. I’ll send the exact address to registered folks the morning of.

One more thing coming for HOAs

Rooftop isn’t the only form this fight will take. “Plug-in” or “balcony” solar — small panel kits that connect straight into a wall outlet, no permit or electrician required — is already legal in 11 states, including New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia.

Pennsylvania’s version of that bill, HB 1971, has bipartisan co-sponsorship. But it’s still hanging out in the House Energy Committee (where Craig is a member). Hopefully it gets some movement.

For most homes around here, rooftop is still the better-looking, better-performing option. But if HOA boards keep saying no to unobtrusive rooftop solar systems, don’t be surprised when people start plugging in something a lot more visible instead.