Colorado HOA Solar Rights

Section 1 — Overview: Solar rights for HOAs in Colorado

Colorado law makes any covenant, restriction, or condition that effectively prohibits or restricts the installation or use of a solar energy device void and unenforceable, so a Colorado association cannot ban rooftop or ground-mounted residential solar.¹ The protection sits in two statutes that work together: the general covenant statute at C.R.S. § 38-30-168, a real-property provision that reaches recorded restrictions broadly,¹ and the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act (CCIOA) public-policy provision at C.R.S. § 38-33.3-106.5, which bars an association from effectively prohibiting renewable energy generation devices.² The protection isn't unconditional: an association may still impose reasonable aesthetic restrictions, but only those that don't increase the device cost by more than ten percent, decrease its performance or efficiency by more than ten percent, or require review longer than sixty days.¹ Colorado is a Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act state, so the solar protection appears both in the general property code and inside the CCIOA framework that governs common interest communities.³ That dual placement positions Colorado among the strong-protection states, alongside California, Florida, Arizona, Nevada, and Texas, whose statutes void or limit association solar restrictions rather than merely enabling voluntary easements.⁴ The sections that follow set out the statutory framework, the operational boundaries for associations, recent legislative activity, and Colorado's national positioning.

Section 2 — The statutory framework

2A. The general solar covenant statute: C.R.S. § 38-30-168

C.R.S. § 38-30-168(1)(a) states that a covenant, restriction, or condition contained in any deed, contract, security instrument, or other instrument affecting the transfer or sale of, or any interest in, real property that effectively prohibits or restricts the installation or use of a renewable energy generation device is void and unenforceable.¹ The statute defines "renewable energy generation device" to mean a solar energy device, as defined in section 38-32.5-100.3, a wind-electric generator that meets Public Utilities Commission interconnection standards under section 40-2-124, and a heat pump system.¹ "Solar energy device" is defined at C.R.S. § 38-32.5-100.3(2) as "a solar collector or other device or a structural design feature of a structure which provides for the collection of sunlight and which comprises part of a system for the conversion of the sun's radiant energy into thermal, chemical, mechanical, or electrical energy."⁵ The reasonable-restriction standard shows up in subsection (2)(a): an association may adopt aesthetic provisions that impose reasonable restrictions on the dimensions, placement, or external appearance of a device, but only if they don't increase the cost of the device by more than ten percent, decrease its performance or efficiency by more than ten percent, or require a period of review and approval that exceeds sixty days.¹ If an application isn't denied or returned for modifications within sixty days, it's deemed approved; the review process must stay transparent, a denial must not be arbitrary or capricious, and the basis for any denial must be described in reasonable detail.¹ Section 38-30-168 is a general real-property statute, added by the 1979 session, effective May 25, 1979, substantially amended by HB 08-1270, effective August 5, 2008, and amended again by HB 21-1229, effective September 7, 2021 — so it reaches recorded restrictions in any community, whether or not CCIOA governs that community.¹ Subsection (4) awards reasonable attorney fees and costs to the party that prevails on the issue of the significance of a cost increase.¹

2B. The CCIOA renewable energy provision: C.R.S. § 38-33.3-106.5

Within CCIOA, C.R.S. § 38-33.3-106.5 lists matters that an association may not prohibit, notwithstanding any contrary provision in the declaration, bylaws, or rules.² Subsection (1.5), added by HB 08-1270 in 2008, states that "an association shall not effectively prohibit renewable energy generation devices, as defined in section 38-30-168."² By cross-referencing § 38-30-168, the CCIOA provision imports the same definitions and the same reasonable-restriction standard, so the two statutes apply one uniform test.² Section 38-33.3-106.5 has been amended repeatedly to expand its protected categories, which now include flags, signs, religious symbols, fire prevention measures, drought-prevention landscaping, licensed family child care, accessory dwelling units, and fire-hardened building materials — the renewable energy protection is one item in that broader public-policy list.² CCIOA is codified at C.R.S. § 38-33.3-101 et seq., based substantially on the 1982 Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, enacted in 1991, and effective July 1, 1992. Colorado didn't adopt the uniform act's article on purchaser protection or its optional administrative article, and it hasn't adopted the 2008 revision of the uniform act.³ On retroactivity, the verified text of C.R.S. § 38-33.3-117(1)(c) applies sections 38-33.3-104 to 38-33.3-111 to all common interest communities created before July 1, 1992, with respect to events occurring on or after July 1, 1992.⁶ Because § 38-33.3-106.5 falls within that numeric range, the CCIOA renewable energy provision reaches pre-July-1-1992 communities, not only communities created later.⁶ Section 38-30-168 independently voids solar prohibitions in any community regardless of creation date, so pre-1992 communities are covered on both tracks.¹

2C. How the two statutes operate together and the role of CC&Rs

For a community governed by CCIOA, both statutes apply and reinforce each other: § 38-30-168 voids the offending covenant as a matter of general property law, and § 38-33.3-106.5 independently bars the association from effectively prohibiting the device.¹ On precedence, the solar statutes override conflicting declaration language: because a covenant that effectively prohibits or restricts a solar energy device is void and unenforceable, a declaration cannot lawfully ban solar even if its recorded text purports to do so, and the "notwithstanding any provision in the declaration" language of § 38-33.3-106.5 confirms that the statute controls over contrary governing documents.² Architectural review retains a residual role, but it stays confined to reasonable restrictions within the statutory standard. A review committee may address dimensions, placement, and external appearance, but it can't use aesthetic rules as a de facto prohibition or exceed the ten-percent cost, ten-percent efficiency, or sixty-day review limits.¹ Associations organized as nonprofit corporations remain subject to the Colorado Revised Nonprofit Corporation Act in addition to CCIOA.⁷ Colorado doesn't currently require community association managers to be licensed. The Community Association Manager licensing program, created in 2013, expired June 30, 2019, after Governor Jared Polis vetoed HB19-1212 on May 31, 2019 — the bill that would have reauthorized it.⁸

Section 3 — What a Colorado HOA can and cannot do regarding solar

A. What an association cannot do

An association cannot enforce any covenant or rule that effectively prohibits or restricts a solar energy device; such a provision is void and unenforceable under C.R.S. § 38-30-168(1)(a) and is separately barred by C.R.S. § 38-33.3-106.5(1.5).¹ An association cannot impose aesthetic conditions that increase the device cost by more than ten percent, decrease its performance or efficiency by more than ten percent, or extend review beyond sixty days — those thresholds mark the outer limit of a permissible restriction under § 38-30-168(2)(a).¹

B. What an association may do

An association may impose reasonable aesthetic restrictions on the dimensions, placement, or external appearance of a solar device, provided they stay within the statutory limits defined in C.R.S. § 38-30-168(2)(a).¹ It may also enforce bona fide safety requirements required by an applicable building code or recognized electrical safety standard under § 38-30-168(2)(b).¹ Aesthetic rules can't operate as a de facto prohibition; a placement requirement that would cut output beyond the ten-percent efficiency threshold is unenforceable.¹

C. Approval and architectural review

A solar application interacts with architectural review only to the extent the review applies reasonable restrictions within the statutory standard, and the review is time-bound: under C.R.S. § 38-30-168(2)(a), an application not denied or returned for modifications within sixty days is deemed approved, the process must stay transparent, and any denial must be non-arbitrary and described in reasonable detail.¹ The same standard governs review in CCIOA communities through the cross-reference in C.R.S. § 38-33.3-106.5(1.5).²

D. Dispute resolution and remedies

The HOA Information and Resource Center, within the Division of Real Estate at the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA), registers common interest communities and collects owner inquiries and complaints under C.R.S. § 38-33.3-401. It provides education about rights under CCIOA, but it carries limited enforcement authority and doesn't adjudicate solar disputes.⁹ Contested solar disputes proceed through the Colorado District Courts, with smaller matters in County Courts, with appeals to the Colorado Court of Appeals and discretionary review by the Colorado Supreme Court.¹⁰ A prevailing party on the issue of the significance of a cost increase is entitled to reasonable attorney fees and costs under C.R.S. § 38-30-168(4).¹

Section 4 — Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

B. Recent appellate rulings

No published opinion from the Colorado Court of Appeals or the Colorado Supreme Court in the past thirty-six months interprets C.R.S. § 38-30-168 or C.R.S. § 38-33.3-106.5 in the solar context. The only Colorado appellate authority construing the solar covenant statute remains Governor's Ranch Homeowner's Ass'n v. Gunther, 705 P.2d 1011 (Colo. App. 1985), which held that a rooftop evaporative cooler physically and functionally integrated with solar panels qualified as a protected integrated solar energy device, while noting the cooler would lose protection if the panels were removed or became inoperative.¹³ Because no qualifying ruling exists in the review window, this page doesn't present a case card here.

C. Active legislative debates

The 2025 session's solar-related legislation focused on consumer protection for solar buyers rather than on amending the association-facing standard, and no bill in the 2024 or 2025 sessions changed the ten-percent cost, ten-percent efficiency, or sixty-day review thresholds in § 38-30-168.¹² Separately, the legislature continued the HOA Information and Resource Center through September 1, 2030, in SB25-184, without expanding its enforcement authority.¹⁴

Section 5 — National positioning and related coverage

Solar-rights law across the states falls into three broad categories. The first: strong-protection states, whose statutes void or limit association solar restrictions — a group that includes Colorado (C.R.S. § 38-30-168 and § 38-33.3-106.5), California (Civ. Code § 714),⁴ Florida (Fla. Stat. § 163.04),¹⁵ Arizona (A.R.S. § 33-1816 and § 33-1268),¹⁶ Nevada (NRS 111.239, which voids covenants that prohibit or unreasonably restrict the use of a solar energy system),¹⁷ and Texas (Prop. Code § 202.010).¹⁸ The second: solar-easement-only states, which enable owners to create voluntary easements to protect sunlight access but don't override association authority. The third: no-protection states, where the declaration fully controls solar installation. Colorado's distinctive feature is that, as a Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act state, its solar protection appears both in the general property code and within the CCIOA framework.³ For multi-state operators, the practical implication is direct: a Colorado association cannot deny solar outright and must confine any restriction to the statutory standard.¹

HOA Weekly's Colorado Solar Rights coverage updates quarterly as the legislature and Colorado courts act on the solar provisions. No federal rule comparable to the FCC's OTARD rule (47 C.F.R. § 1.4000, which covers television and satellite antennas, not rooftop solar) applies here, so Colorado's state statutes control.¹⁹

Footnotes

1. C.R.S. § 38-30-168, Unreasonable restrictions on renewable energy generation devices or fire-hardened building materials, Colorado Revised Statutes Title 38 (leg.colorado.gov) ↩
2. C.R.S. § 38-33.3-106.5, Prohibitions contrary to public policy, Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act (Colorado Division of Real Estate, dre.colorado.gov) ↩
3. C.R.S. § 38-33.3-101 et seq., Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act, editor's note on basis in the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act and effective date of July 1, 1992 (Colorado Division of Real Estate, dre.colorado.gov) ↩
4. Cal. Civ. Code § 714 (California Legislative Information, leginfo.legislature.ca.gov) ↩
5. C.R.S. § 38-32.5-100.3(2), Definitions (solar energy device), Colorado Revised Statutes Title 38 (leg.colorado.gov) ↩
6. C.R.S. § 38-33.3-117(1)(c), Applicability to preexisting common interest communities (applying §§ 38-33.3-104 to 38-33.3-111 to communities created before July 1, 1992), Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act (Colorado Division of Real Estate, dre.colorado.gov) ↩
7. HOA Frequently Asked Questions, noting associations are governed by the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act and the Colorado Revised Nonprofit Act (Colorado Division of Real Estate, dre.colorado.gov) ↩
8. Colorado Real Estate Manual, Chapter 5: Common Interest Communities, stating the Community Association Manager licensing program ended at the Division of Real Estate on June 30, 2019 (Colorado Division of Real Estate, dre.colorado.gov) ↩
9. Colorado Real Estate Manual, Chapter 5: Common Interest Communities, describing the HOA Information and Resource Center, annual registration under C.R.S. § 38-33.3-401, and the Center's information and complaint-collection role (Colorado Division of Real Estate, dre.colorado.gov) ↩
10. Colorado Judicial Branch, court structure (District Courts and County Courts at the trial level, Colorado Court of Appeals as the intermediate appellate court, and the Colorado Supreme Court as the court of last resort) (coloradojudicial.gov) ↩
11. HB24-1091, Fire-Hardened Building Materials in Real Property, 2024 Regular Session (Colorado General Assembly, leg.colorado.gov) ↩
12. SB25-299, Consumer Protection Residential Energy Systems, 2025 Regular Session (Colorado General Assembly, leg.colorado.gov) ↩
13. Governor's Ranch Homeowner's Ass'n v. Gunther, 705 P.2d 1011 (Colo. App. 1985), published opinion (Justia) ↩
14. SB25-184, Sunset HOA Information & Resource Center (continuing the Center to September 1, 2030), 2025 Regular Session (Colorado General Assembly, leg.colorado.gov) ↩
15. Fla. Stat. § 163.04, Energy devices based on renewable resources (Online Sunshine, leg.state.fl.us) ↩
16. A.R.S. § 33-1816, Solar energy devices; reasonable restrictions; fees and costs (Arizona State Legislature, azleg.gov) ↩
17. NRS 111.239, Restrictions on use of system for obtaining solar energy void and unenforceable (Nevada Legislature, leg.state.nv.us) ↩
18. Tex. Prop. Code § 202.010, Regulation of Solar Energy Devices (Texas Constitution and Statutes, statutes.capitol.texas.gov) ↩
19. Over-the-Air Reception Devices Rule, 47 C.F.R. § 1.4000 (Federal Communications Commission, fcc.gov), covering television broadcast, direct broadcast satellite, and fixed wireless antennas ↩