Resources > Homeowners associations and solar access in Virginia

Homeowners associations and solar access in Virginia

• Factsheet

April 19, 2024

Homeowners associations (HOA) typically define a neighborhood’s aesthetic rules and sometimes attempt to restrict your ability to go solar. Even with the law, you’ll still have to navigate your own HOA when you go solar. Check out our HOA action guide for more information.

Virginia law protects your ability to go solar. Homeowners associations can only stop you from installing solar if the HOA’s recorded declaration explicitly prohibits solar installations. A recorded declaration is a legal document that lays out the rules of the HOA at its founding.

The law allows HOAs to establish “reasonable restrictions” on solar installations. These include limits on the size and location of systems and how they are installed. For example, an HOA may prevent you from installing a ground-mount solar array.

What is a reasonable restriction?

Virginia passed a law creating the “reasonable restrictions” protection in 2014. However, they did not define what “reasonable restrictions” meant. This led to confusion that prevented hundreds of homeowners from going solar.

We worked with lawmakers to pass legislation to define the limits of a “reasonable restriction”.

The law, passed in 2020, says an HOA-imposed restriction is reasonable if:

• It increases system cost by less than 5% over the proposed design, or
• It decreases system performance by less than 10% over the proposed design.

Virginia resources

• Virginia law regarding HOAs and solar – This section of Virginia law defines your rights when an HOA interferes with your right to install solar.
• HOA Third Party Certification Form – This form was created by MDV SEIA for a solar NABCEP professional to use to determine if HOA restrictions for solar placement are warranted under the 2020 Virginia HOA and solar law.
• MDV-SEIA Guide for Homeowners Associations on Solar Installations in Virginia – This useful guide was developed by the regional solar industry association about the rules for installing solar in relation to HOA regulations.
• Opinion letter from Virginia’s attorney general regarding HOA restrictions – This 2015 letter asserts that HOAs do not have the right to prohibit solar unless the prohibition is specifically written into the HOA’s recorded declarations.