Solar Easement

Shade is one of the biggest problems that solar production faces is shade. Before you install a solar energy system, you will want to make sure that any solar panels on your property receive as much sunlight as possible. If you live in close proximity to a neighbor whose has trees or a structure that will shade your panels, it may be a good idea to consider getting a solar easement.

What is Solar Easement?

A solar easement allows for property owners to legally protect the access that they have to sunshine. These may be important to ensure that you have the highest efficiency of solar energy. Shading can play a huge role in efficiency of solar energy reduction.

If your neighbor has trees on their property that are in a close proximity to your property line and roof, you might be able to obtain a solar easement from your neighbor that stipulates that their trees can only grow to a certain height before they are trimmed or cut down because the height of the tree’s will impact the amount of sunlight that hits your solar panel installation.

It’s important to know that all solar easements are voluntary: even if your state or local jurisdiction allows for the creation of solar easements, your neighbor needs to agree to the easement agreement in the first place. But, the property owners that obtain the solar easements will often negotiate by offering a sort of compensation for signing a solar easement agreement.   

One the easement is set in stone to the property. Meaning that the if your neighbor moves, the new homeowner would still have to abide the original easement agreement.

What must be included in a solar easement? 

A legally-blinding solar easement must have a detailed description of easement and the specific area where it’s in effect. Which will often mean that there are including specific vertical and horizontal angles that must remain open to sunlight, or maximum heights and widths of shrubbery and buildings close to the property line. The easements can also be specific to certain times and dates during the year - you might have a solar easements that’s specific to summer months when your neighbor’s trees are full.

These easements will also list any circumstances in which said easement can be canceled or voided, but there isn’t incurred penalties for breaking the solar easement agreement.

Solar easements vs. Solar access laws

These easements aren’t the only policy tool available to help protect a property owner’s right to sunshine; there are a lot of states that go a step further by having solar access laws that will protect the right of property owners to install a solar energy system on their property.

Residents of states or cities with solar access laws, there are measures that are in place to prevent your neighbors, homeowners association (HOA), town, and more from prohibiting you to install solar panel system. But, the right for you to install solar on your property, restrictions may still be in place and they can make it very difficult to do so. For instance, even if it’s illegal for your HOA to forbid you from installing solar panels, they may still specify certain installation setbacks, restrict the location of the installation, or only permit certain types of solar panel installation for aesthetic reasons.

The States that have solar easements policies

These states have laws that protect a property owner’s right to form a solar easement:

1. Arkansas
2. California
3. Colorado
4. Florida
5. Georgia
6. Idaho
7. Indiana
8. Iowa
9. Kansas
10. Kentucky
11. Maine
12. Maryland
13. Massachusetts
14. Minnesota
15. Missouri
16. Montana
17. Missouri
18. Montana
19. Nebraska
20. Nevada
21. New Hampshire
22. New Jersey
23. New Mexico
24. New York
25. North Dakota
26. Ohio
27. Oregon
28. Rhode Island
29. South Dakota
30. Tennessee
31. Utah
32. Virginia
33. Washington

If the state that you live in isn’t listed, the state might offer other forms of solar protection, like solar access laws. In addition to solar access laws, the local town or city might have their own laws or policies in place to allow for solar easements.