Virginia HOA solar panel rights

The starting point is that solar on your own lot or unit is protected unless the declaration itself bans it. A board rule or a general architectural policy is not enough to prohibit panels; the prohibition has to be in the recorded declaration.

Where the association is allowed to set placement rules, the 5% and 10% test keeps those rules honest. If a placement demand would push the install cost up more than 5%, or cut the system's output more than 10%, it is deemed unreasonable. The owner backs that up with documentation from a NABCEP-certified, Virginia-licensed solar specialist. Common elements are different: the HOA can prohibit solar there outright.

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

• Whether the recorded declaration actually prohibits solar, since only the declaration can.
• Any placement rules, measured against the 5% cost and 10% output test.
• Whether the home is a lot or unit (protected) or whether the panels would sit on a common element (not protected).
• Whether existing panels were approved and documented.

If you are buying with solar in mind, the question is whether the declaration bans it and whether any placement rule would gut the economics. A board cannot quietly kill a system with a placement demand that fails the 5% or 10% test.

An HOA Notes brief checks the declaration for a real solar prohibition, measures any placement rule against the statutory test, and cites the page behind each finding.

Virginia Code section 55.1-1820.1 (Solar device installation rights). An association cannot prohibit installation of a solar energy collection device on individually owned property (lot or unit); any restriction is deemed unreasonable and unenforceable if it increases installation cost by more than 5% over the projected cost of the initially proposed installation, or reduces energy production by more than 10% below projected output. The association may impose reasonable restrictions on size, place, and manner of placement on individually owned property, and may prohibit or restrict installations on common elements or common areas entirely; the association may require documentation from a Virginia-licensed, NABCEP-certified solar specialist to substantiate a cost or performance impact claim.

When you read the disclosure packet, watch for no solar panels collectors or photovoltaic equipment on any lot or unit, board must approve all exterior equipment and may deny any application in its sole discretion, and no modifications to roofing materials without written consent. HOA Notes flags each of these against the statute and tells you which restrictions are actually enforceable.