Illinois HOA and condo solar panel rights

On a building the Act covers, a solar energy system is protected. A board cannot ban it by rule or lean on an old covenant to block it. The association can shape where panels sit on a given roof face, but it cannot shut panels out of every roof face, and it cannot use placement to cut the system's estimated annual output by more than 10%. It also has to act on an application within 75 days.

The carve-out is what trips people up. The protection does not reach a building over 60 feet tall, or one with a shared roof that serves more than one unit or is a common element. In practice that means a high-rise or stacked condominium with a common roof is outside the Act, and the association's restrictions on that shared roof control.

If solar matters to you, read these before you make an offer:

• Whether the building is over 60 feet or has a shared roof, which puts it outside the Act.
• The association's written energy policy statement, if it has adopted one.
• Any blanket ban on roof equipment, which cannot stand on a covered building.
• Whether existing panels were approved and documented.

Whether Illinois solar law helps you turns on the building. A single-family home or low-rise townhome is usually covered; a high-rise condo with a shared roof usually is not. Knowing which side you are on before you buy avoids a costly assumption.

An HOA Notes brief checks the building type and the association's energy policy, flags a solar restriction that cannot stand on a covered building, and cites the page behind each finding.

765 ILCS 165/15 and 765 ILCS 165/20 (Homeowners' Energy Policy Statement Act) (Solar installation prohibition ban). An association cannot adopt any bylaw or exercise any power that prohibits or has the effect of prohibiting installation of a solar energy system on a building subject to the association; under section 165/20, no deed restriction or covenant running with the land may prohibit or effectively prohibit a solar energy system; if no written energy policy exists and the association fails to act within required timelines, the owner may proceed with installation; IMPORTANT EXCEPTION: this statute does not apply to buildings more than 60 feet tall or to buildings with shared roofs that serve multiple units or constitute common elements. The association may determine the specific configuration of system elements on a given roof face, but may not prohibit solar elements from any roof face; any placement restriction cannot reduce system production by more than 10%; it may require submissions via hard copy or online form and may not charge a higher application fee than for any other property alteration; the association must process a solar application within 75 days of submission, and if the application is submitted before the association has adopted an energy policy statement, the 75-day period does not begin to run until the policy is adopted.

When you read the disclosure packet, watch for no solar panels collectors or photovoltaic equipment on any lot or unit, all exterior modifications require board approval and may be denied for aesthetic reasons, and no equipment may be mounted on any roof surface. HOA Notes flags each of these against the statute and tells you which restrictions are actually enforceable.