Florida law forbids ordinances, deed restrictions, covenants, or similar binding agreements from prohibiting the use of solar equipment. Under the law, a homeowner may not be denied permission to install a solar collector, clothesline, or other energy device based on renewable resources by “any entity granted the power or right in any deed restriction, covenant or similar binding agreement to approve, forbid, control, or direct alteration of property.”

While a homeowner cannot be prevented from installing a solar energy system, certain restrictions may be imposed without violating the law. However, those restrictions must be reasonable, not arbitrary, and uniformly imposed on the homeowners in the subdivision, They cannot act to impair the performance of the system or they may be seen as “effectively” prohibiting solar.

The law specifically prohibits a homeowner association from preventing the installation of solar collectors on the roof, although the association may determine where on the roof the collectors may be installed, so long as the installation is within the area required for its effective operation, that is, south or east or west of due south. The association is, thereby, limited in imposing requirements which would effectively restrict the system’s operation efficiency, or increase the cost of installing the system. As such, requirements for screening the system from view, whether by trees or fences, ground-mounting or limiting installation to an area not visible from the street, are contrary to the spirit and letter of the law, if the result impairs the efficiency of the system. Requiring the system to conform to a certain color (i.e. , blending with the color of the roof) are also prohibited by the statute, as the collector surface must be black in order to absorb the sun’s heat ( and, in fact, is the only available material on the market).

If you would like more information on this law and some cases on file we would be happy to e-mail you the report. If you have any other questions on Solar products please contact us at:

                                            386-437-2671 or toll free at 1-888-780-0005.

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