Connecticut HOA Solar Rights

Key Findings

• Connecticut counts as a strong-protection state for rooftop solar, but its protection runs narrower than California's or Florida's — it reaches only the roofs of single-family detached units that aren't shared, and it permits a condominium opt-out.^1,2
• The governing law sits inside the Common Interest Ownership Act (CIOA), Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-200 et seq., specifically the "Rules" section at § 47-261b, rather than in a standalone solar statute.¹
• CIOA is based on the 1982 Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act and was substantially revised toward the 2008 UCIOA amendments effective July 1, 2010, principally by Public Act 09-225.³
• Connecticut has no dedicated solar-easement enabling statute. Access to sunlight across neighboring land can be secured only by a voluntary recorded easement, and an 1875 statute (§ 47-25) bars acquiring light-and-air easements by prescription.⁴
• No published Connecticut Appellate Court or Supreme Court opinion has yet interpreted the solar provisions of § 47-261b as applied to an association.⁵
• No federal rule comparable to the FCC's OTARD rule reaches rooftop solar — Connecticut's protection is purely a matter of state law.⁶

Details

Section 1: Overview — Solar rights for HOAs in Connecticut

Connecticut limits a community association's ability to prohibit rooftop solar, and that limit lives in the Common Interest Ownership Act rather than a standalone solar-rights statute. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-261b(g), added by Public Act 22-25 (the Connecticut Clean Air Act) and effective January 1, 2023, states that in a common interest community that is not a condominium or cooperative, an association may not adopt or enforce rules that would have the effect of prohibiting a unit owner from installing a solar power generating system on the roof of that owner's unit, provided the roof isn't shared.¹ Public Act 25-73, effective January 1, 2026, extended comparable protection to owners of single-family detached units inside condominiums, barring declarations and bylaws from unreasonably restricting such systems and creating an application process.² The protection is bounded by a reasonable-restriction standard: associations may still regulate the size, placement, and manner of installation, assign upkeep responsibility, and prohibit solar on shared common elements, and every association rule must be reasonable.¹ Connecticut is a Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act state whose CIOA was substantially revised toward the 2008 model effective July 1, 2010.³ Connecticut has no dedicated statutory solar-easement regime. Owners may create voluntary easements to protect sunlight across neighboring property, but such easements bind only the contracting neighbors and don't override an association.⁴ That places Connecticut among the strong-protection states that limit association solar restrictions, though its reach runs narrower than California's or Florida's, since it's confined to unshared roofs of detached units. The sections below set out the statutory framework, the operational limits on association authority, and recent legislative activity.

Section 2: The statutory framework

2A. The solar-access provision

Connecticut limits declaration- and rule-based prohibitions on rooftop solar, and the operative text is Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-261b(g). It states: "In the case of a common interest community that is not a condominium or a cooperative, an association may not adopt or enforce any rules that would have the effect of prohibiting any unit owner from installing a solar power generating system on the roof of such owner's unit, provided such roof is not shared with any other unit owner."¹ The same subsection permits an association to adopt rules governing the size and manner of affixing, installing, or removing a system; the owner's responsibilities for periodic upkeep and maintenance; and a prohibition on installing systems on any common elements.¹ This subsection was added by Public Act 22-25, the Connecticut Clean Air Act, and took effect January 1, 2023.¹ As originally enacted, it applied only to planned communities and excluded condominiums and cooperatives.⁷ Public Act 25-73, §§ 10 and 11, generally effective January 1, 2026, broadened the framework: it establishes a process through which owners of detached units in condominiums or planned communities (but not cooperatives) may apply to their associations to install rooftop solar, and it bars the declaration and bylaws from unreasonably restricting panels on those homes.² Under that process, the executive board must acknowledge receipt of an application in writing within 30 days and issue a written decision or a request for additional information within 60 days, with up to 30 additional days to deny after receiving requested information; if the board doesn't deny the application in writing within that window, it's deemed approved.⁸ Associations formed by January 1, 2026 may opt out of the 2025 act's approval process and protections if 75 percent of the board votes to do so by January 1, 2028.² Keeping the enacting instruments distinct from the codified location matters here: the public acts are 22-25 and 25-73, while the codified home is CIOA, Chapter 828 of Title 47.

2B. CIOA and its 2008-model revision

The Common Interest Ownership Act, Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-200 et seq., governs condominiums, cooperatives, and planned communities created in Connecticut on or after January 1, 1984, with selected provisions reaching older communities.⁹ CIOA is based on the 1982 Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act. It was substantially revised toward the 2008 UCIOA amendments effective July 1, 2010, principally through Public Act 09-225, with conforming changes made by Public Act 10-186.³ Connecticut is therefore neither a pure 1982-model state nor a complete 2008 adoption — it's a 1982 base substantially updated toward 2008. For solar purposes, the relevant architectural-authority backdrop is § 47-261b itself. Subsection (c) authorizes an association, subject to the declaration, to adopt and enforce construction and design criteria and aesthetic standards, and requires that if it does so, it must adopt enforcement procedures and construction-application approval procedures, including a reasonable time within which the association must act after an application is submitted and the consequences of a failure to act.¹ Subsection (i) requires that each rule of the association be reasonable.¹ These provisions frame the general power an association holds over exterior modifications, against which the specific solar limits in subsection (g) and Public Act 25-73 operate as carve-outs.

2C. Solar easements and the role of CC&Rs

Connecticut has no solar-easement enabling statute creating a statutory right to sunlight. The legislature eliminated easements to light and air by prescription in 1875 (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-25), and the Connecticut Supreme Court has narrowly limited easements to light and air by implication.⁴ An owner can still obtain sunlight protection only by negotiating and recording a voluntary express easement with a neighbor; if the neighbor then blocks the light, the owner can seek relief in court.⁴ Such an easement binds only the contracting parties and doesn't constrain a community association. The order of precedence runs like this: where the solar provisions in § 47-261b(g) or Public Act 25-73 apply, they override conflicting rules, declaration, or bylaw provisions for the covered detached-unit rooftops.^1,2 Where they don't apply — on shared roofs or common elements, say, or in a condominium that has validly opted out under the 2025 act — the declaration and the association's architectural authority control, subject to CIOA's general requirement that rules be reasonable and that construction-application procedures allow for a timely decision.¹ Architectural review doesn't disappear under the solar statutes; it stays confined to the reasonable restrictions the statutes expressly permit, such as size, placement, installation manner, and maintenance responsibility.

Section 3: What a Connecticut HOA can and cannot do regarding solar

A. What an association cannot do

An association covered by § 47-261b(g) cannot adopt or enforce any rule that would have the effect of prohibiting an owner from installing a solar power generating system on the owner's own unshared roof.¹ For single-family detached units in condominiums and planned communities, an association cannot enforce declaration or bylaw provisions that unreasonably restrict rooftop solar on those units, unless it has validly opted out under Public Act 25-73.²

B. What an association may do

An association may adopt rules governing the size and manner of affixing, installing, or removing a system, assign the owner responsibility for upkeep and maintenance, and prohibit installation on common elements.¹ It may also condition an approved installation on the owner's use of a registered and insured contractor and on the owner covering any resulting common expenses — permissive, but any such conditions must stay reasonable.²

C. Approval and architectural review

Under Public Act 25-73, a covered detached-unit owner applies to the association, whose executive board must acknowledge the application within 30 days and issue a decision or information request within 60 days. Where the board fails to deny within the 60-day window, or the 90-day window when additional information is requested, the application is deemed approved and the owner may proceed by default.⁸ More generally, CIOA § 47-261b(c) requires that an association adopting construction and design criteria also adopt approval procedures that set a reasonable time to act and the consequence of failing to act.¹

D. Dispute resolution and remedies

A dispute over a solar denial proceeds as a civil action in the Connecticut Superior Court, with appeal to the Connecticut Appellate Court and discretionary review by the Connecticut Supreme Court.¹⁰ Public Act 25-73 provides that where an association brings a legal action to enforce compliance with the written solar agreement or the act's related requirements, the prevailing party is awarded reasonable attorney's fees.⁸

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

B. Recent appellate rulings

No published Connecticut Appellate Court or Connecticut Supreme Court opinion within the past 36 months has interpreted the solar provisions of § 47-261b or association architectural authority as applied to a rooftop solar installation.⁵ The one recent published appellate solar decision, McHenry Solar, LLC v. Town of Hampton, 235 Conn. App. 355, Dkt. No. AC 47636, officially released September 23, 2025, addressed personal-property tax treatment of a commercial solar facility and held that generating electricity isn't "manufacturing" under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 12-81. It doesn't bear on HOA solar rights.¹¹

C. Active legislative debates

Connecticut lawmakers have returned to solar repeatedly in recent sessions, including a 2025 regular-session bill, HB 7002, that preceded the enacted condominium expansion, and a 2026 energy bill, HB 5340, signed as a public act, that addressed incentives, streamlined permitting, and plug-in solar rather than association authority.¹² Further refinement of the condominium opt-out window and the detached-unit approval process may well recur in future sessions.

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

Solar-rights law nationally falls into three broad categories. Strong-protection states void or limit association solar restrictions by statute, including California (Civ. Code § 714), Florida (Fla. Stat. § 163.04), Arizona (A.R.S. § 33-1816), Colorado (C.R.S. § 38-30-168), Nevada, and Texas (Prop. Code § 202.010).¹³ Solar-easement-only states enable voluntary easements between neighbors but don't override associations. No-protection states leave the declaration in full control. Connecticut belongs in the strong-protection category, because § 47-261b(g) and Public Act 25-73 override association rules and governing documents for covered rooftops — though its reach runs narrower than California's or Florida's, confined as it is to unshared roofs of single-family detached units and subject to a condominium opt-out.^1,2 Connecticut's distinctive feature is that this protection sits inside a Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act framework revised toward the 2008 model, so solar authority gets read against CIOA's general reasonableness and approval-procedure requirements.³ For a multi-state operator, the practical implication runs simple: a solar policy compliant in California or Florida won't automatically satisfy Connecticut's detached-unit approval timelines and opt-out mechanics, so governing documents and intake procedures need to be localized.

HOA Weekly's Connecticut Solar Rights coverage updates quarterly as the legislature and the Connecticut courts act. No federal rule comparable to the FCC's OTARD rule applies to rooftop solar, so Connecticut's state law controls here.⁶

Recommendations

• Boards of planned communities should audit existing rules now for any provision that could have the effect of prohibiting rooftop solar on unshared detached-unit roofs — such rules are already unenforceable under § 47-261b(g).
• Condominium boards should decide before January 1, 2028 whether to hold a 75 percent opt-out vote under Public Act 25-73, weighing owner demand for solar against governance preferences.
• Managers should implement a written solar-application workflow with deadline tracking — a missed decision window, 60 days or 90 days when additional information is requested, can result in a deemed approval.
• Attorneys should revise solar agreements and governing documents to reflect the reasonable-restriction boundary and the prevailing-party fee provision before recommending enforcement litigation.
• Watch for the benchmark that would change these steps: any new appellate ruling interpreting § 47-261b solar authority, or a further statutory amendment altering the opt-out window or extending coverage to shared roofs or cooperatives.

Caveats

• The precise new codified section number created by Public Act 25-73 for the condominium detached-unit provision couldn't be independently confirmed against the enrolled act text on cga.ct.gov, which blocks automated retrieval. The act's content, sections (§§ 10 and 11), effective date, opt-out terms, and attribution are confirmed through the Office of Legislative Research report cited below.
• The 30/60/30-day approval timeline and the prevailing-party attorney's-fee provision come from the Office of Legislative Research analysis of the substantively identical predecessor bill (HB 7002) and contemporaneous reporting on the enacted measure. Confirm the exact enrolled wording against Public Act 25-73 before relying on it in litigation.
• Statutory quotations come from the current codified text of § 47-261b; confirm against the official Connecticut General Statutes before relying on exact wording in a filing.

1. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-261b (Rules), Common Interest Ownership Act, Chapter 828, Title 47 (subsections (c), (g), and (i); history noting P.A. 22-25 added Subsec. (g)) ↩
2. Connecticut Office of Legislative Research, Report 2025-R-0113 (Public Act 25-73, §§ 10 & 11: solar panels in condominiums and planned communities; unreasonable-restriction bar; 75% board opt-out by Jan. 1, 2028; generally effective Jan. 1, 2026) ↩
3. Connecticut Public Act 10-186, An Act Concerning the Common Interest Ownership Act (amendments to § 47-261b effective July 1, 2010, following the 2008-model revision enacted by P.A. 09-225) ↩
4. Connecticut Office of Legislative Research, Report 2007-R-0498, Protection of Solar Access (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-25 bars prescriptive light-and-air easements; voluntary express easements available) ↩
5. Connecticut Judicial Branch, Appellate Court opinions (no published opinion interpreting § 47-261b solar provisions as applied to an association identified as of July 17, 2026) ↩
6. Federal Communications Commission, Over-the-Air Reception Devices (OTARD) Rule, 47 C.F.R. § 1.4000 (antenna and small-dish rule; does not extend to rooftop solar) ↩
7. Connecticut General Assembly, 2022 Joint Favorable Report, SB 225 (noting the then-existing planned-community solar provision did not apply to condominiums or cooperatives) ↩
8. Connecticut Office of Legislative Research, Bill Analysis, 2025 HB 7002 (substantively identical predecessor: 30-day acknowledgment, 60-day decision, 30-day extension, deemed approval; prevailing-party attorney's fees; buyer-disclosure requirement) ↩
9. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47-200 et seq. (Common Interest Ownership Act) and § 47-216 (applicability to communities created before Jan. 1, 1984), Chapter 828, Title 47 ↩
10. Connecticut Judicial Branch, Appellate Court (trial disputes in the Superior Court; appeals to the Appellate Court; discretionary review by the Supreme Court) ↩
11. McHenry Solar, LLC v. Town of Hampton, Connecticut Appellate Court, Dkt. No. AC 47636 (officially released September 23, 2025) (electricity generation is not "manufacturing" for the § 12-81 personal-property tax exemption) ↩
12. Connecticut General Assembly, HB 7002 (2025), An Act Concerning Solar Installations in Certain Common Interest Ownership Communities (regular-session predecessor to the enacted condominium expansion) ↩
13. Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE), Solar Access Law (state-by-state solar-access framework) ↩