Michigan HOA Solar Rights

Section 1: Overview — Solar rights for HOAs in Michigan

As of July 2026, Michigan does limit a community association's authority over rooftop solar. The Homeowners' Energy Policy Act (HEPA), 2024 Public Act 68, codified at MCL 559.301 to 559.317, took effect April 2, 2025, and makes any provision in a homeowners' association agreement that prohibits or has the effect of prohibiting a solar energy system invalid and unenforceable as contrary to public policy.^1,2 This reverses Michigan's long-standing status as a state with no association-level solar protection. The change runs recent and legislation-driven, so the current text controls rather than the historical no-protection posture.

This protection stays distinct from Michigan's 2023 clean-energy package, which was largely utility-side — the renewable energy standard, large-project siting, and Michigan Public Service Commission authority — and doesn't govern a homeowner's own installation.³ The governing framework depends on the community type: many Michigan detached-home developments are site condominiums under the Condominium Act, MCL 559.101 et seq., while true HOAs run on recorded covenants and the Nonprofit Corporation Act, MCL 450.2101 et seq.^4,5 Whether HEPA reaches condominium associations, as opposed to true HOAs, stays unsettled.⁶ Michigan has no dedicated solar easement enabling statute, so any easement for sunlight access counts as an ordinary voluntary contract that doesn't override association authority. With HEPA in force, Michigan now sits among the states that limit association solar bans. The sections below set out the statute, the framework, and the operational rules.

Section 2: The statutory framework

2A. Solar-access provision (current law)

Michigan now has a solar-access provision at the association level. The Homeowners' Energy Policy Act, 2024 PA 68 (MCL 559.301 to 559.317), was signed July 8, 2024, and took effect April 2, 2025.¹ Its core rule, MCL 559.307, provides that a provision in a homeowners' association agreement, or in the solar policy the association adopts, that prohibits or has the effect of prohibiting the installation of a solar energy system is invalid and unenforceable as contrary to public policy.² A companion section, MCL 559.305, voids provisions that prohibit or require association approval for a range of energy-saving improvements, including heat pumps, insulation, clotheslines, rain barrels, reflective roofing, energy-efficient windows and appliances, and electric vehicle supply equipment.⁷

The Act sets a standard, not just a ban on bans. Under MCL 559.309, an association may enforce reasonable standards, but a policy may not prohibit solar elements on a roof face, may not require a specific technology, and may not impose any standard that reduces the system's electricity production by more than 10% or increases installation cost by more than $1,000.⁸ The Act covers systems on individual homes and units; MCL 559.313 excludes common areas and shared roofs, meaning roofs serving more than one home or unit.⁹

A significant open question is whether HEPA reaches condominium associations. The Act uses the term "homeowners' association" without defining it, and it doesn't mention "condominium association" or "association of co-owners," the term the Condominium Act uses.¹⁰ Richard M. Delonis of Szura & Delonis, PLC, writing in February 2026, describes the Michigan legal community as "divided on this question," noting that some attorneys argue the legislature's choice not to name condominium associations means the Act doesn't apply to them, while others advise condominium associations to comply voluntarily until courts provide clarity.⁶ The consensus holds that HEPA applies clearly to true HOAs and subdivision associations, while its reach over condominium associations awaits a court ruling. The utility-side boundary stays separate: the renewable energy standard, large-project siting, net metering, and the MPSC govern utility matters, not association authority over a member's installation.³

2B. The governing framework and the site-condominium phenomenon

Two bodies of law frame association authority in Michigan, and which one applies depends on how the community is organized. Condominiums answer to the Michigan Condominium Act, MCL 559.101 et seq., a comprehensive 1978 statute.⁴ Under that Act, authority over units and common elements runs through the recorded master deed and bylaws, and MCL 559.156 governs what condominium bylaws may contain.¹¹

The distinctive Michigan feature is the site condominium. Many detached single-family developments in Michigan organize as site condominiums under the Condominium Act rather than as traditional covenant-based HOAs. In a site condominium each building site is a "unit," and the development can be visually indistinguishable from a platted subdivision, yet it answers to a master deed and bylaws under the Condominium Act.⁴ As a result, the Condominium Act reaches a large share of communities that in other states would be planned-unit HOAs. A manager or attorney must first determine whether a given Michigan community is a site condominium or a true HOA, because the governing framework differs, and because HEPA's coverage of condominium associations stays unsettled while its coverage of true HOAs is clear.

True HOAs run covenant-based. Michigan has no comprehensive planned-community HOA statute, so these associations answer to their recorded declarations of covenants, conditions and restrictions, the Michigan Nonprofit Corporation Act, MCL 450.2101 et seq., for corporate governance, and common law.⁵ Michigan is not a Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act state, so UCIOA concepts don't apply.

2C. Solar easements, governing documents, and order of precedence

Michigan has no dedicated solar easement enabling statute. Property owners may create an easement for sunlight access through an ordinary recorded conveyance under Michigan's general conveyancing law, but no solar-specific statute validates such easements, and a voluntary easement between neighbors doesn't override an association's authority over installations.⁴ A solar easement, where used, protects a system from future shading by an adjacent owner who agrees to the terms; it is not a solar-access mandate.

The order of precedence now runs as follows. For a true HOA, HEPA controls over any conflicting governing-document provision, and any bylaw, covenant, or architectural rule that prohibits or effectively prohibits solar is void.² Where HEPA doesn't apply, or on shared roofs and common areas that HEPA excludes, the master deed and bylaws — for condominiums — or the recorded covenants — for HOAs — control, subject to general contract and common-law doctrines.⁹ Architectural review retains a residual role: an association may still review a solar application and enforce reasonable aesthetic and placement standards, but only within the statutory limits, and it may not use design review to defeat a compliant installation.⁸

Section 3: What a Michigan association can and cannot do regarding solar

A. Approval and architectural review

For a true HOA, a member must submit a written application to install a solar energy system, and the association must approve or deny it within 30 days — or within 120 days if the application is submitted before the association adopts its solar policy. The application must include the member's name, the installation address, the installer's contact information, an image of the layout, and a description of the system.¹² For condominiums and site condominiums, review runs through the master deed and bylaws under the Condominium Act, subject to the unresolved question of whether HEPA also applies.⁴

B. Permissible and impermissible restrictions

Under HEPA, a true HOA cannot ban solar, cannot bar panels from any roof face, cannot mandate a particular technology, and cannot impose standards that cut production by more than 10% or add more than $1,000 to cost; it also cannot require adjacent-owner approval, charge a higher application fee than for other property changes, or condition approval on the system's owner or financing method.⁸ It may deny only on enumerated grounds, including a court finding that the installation violates a law, non-conformance with the approved application, or specific roof standards — extension more than six inches above the roof, a top edge not parallel to the roof line, or frames, brackets, or visible wiring that aren't silver, bronze, or black tones commonly available in the market.⁸ On shared roofs and in common areas, these limits don't apply.⁹

C. Governing-document and disclosure considerations

Every homeowners' association must adopt a written solar energy policy statement within one year of the effective date — by April 2, 2026 — containing the standards it will enforce and the affirmations required by statute; it must give a copy to members within 30 days of adoption and post it online if it maintains a website.⁸ If an association fails to adopt a compliant policy by that deadline, a member may proceed with installation without approval, and the association may not fine or penalize the member for doing so.¹² Condominium master deeds and bylaws get amended under the procedures of the Condominium Act.⁴

D. Dispute resolution and remedies

Disputes proceed through the Michigan Circuit Court, with appeals to the Michigan Court of Appeals and discretionary review by the Michigan Supreme Court.¹³ HEPA provides a statutory remedy: if an association violates the Act, a member may bring a civil action for damages, and a prevailing member may be awarded reasonable attorney fees and costs.¹³ For condominium disputes generally, the Condominium Act authorizes a co-owner to bring an action in circuit court to compel enforcement of the condominium documents or the Act.⁴

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

B. Recent appellate rulings

No published decision from the Michigan Court of Appeals or the Michigan Supreme Court has yet interpreted the Homeowners' Energy Policy Act as applied to association solar authority. Because the Act took effect only in April 2025, no appellate ruling on it exists in the review window, and the key open question — whether it reaches condominium associations — remains unlitigated.¹⁰

C. Active legislative debates

House Bill 4363 of 2025, a 13-Republican-sponsored bill whose text provides that "the homeowners' energy policy act, 2024 PA 68, MCL 559.301 to 559.317, is repealed," would repeal the Act in its entirety; it was re-referred to the House Committee on Energy on October 21, 2025 and hasn't advanced.¹⁴

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

Solar-rights regimes fall into three broad categories: strong-protection states whose statutes void or limit association solar restrictions — California Civil 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; solar-easement-only states, which enable voluntary easements but don't override associations; and no-protection states, where the governing documents fully control. With the Homeowners' Energy Policy Act in force, Michigan now belongs in the first category for true HOAs; FindLaw counts 29 states with laws restricting HOA authority over solar installations, and the Community Associations Institute's solar-access materials flag Michigan's law as effective April 2025.¹⁵ Michigan's distinctive feature is the prevalence of site condominiums organized under the Condominium Act, which means a detached-home community may not be a covenant HOA at all, and the statute's reach over such communities stays unsettled.⁴ For multi-state operators, Michigan has shifted from a permissive state to one that requires an affirmative compliance step — a written solar policy — on a fixed deadline.

HOA Weekly's Michigan Solar Rights coverage updates quarterly as the legislature and the Michigan courts act, with particular attention to any ruling on whether HEPA reaches condominium associations. No federal rule comparable to the FCC's OTARD rule applies to rooftop solar, so Michigan's state law controls here.

Footnotes

1. Homeowners' Energy Policy Act, 2024 PA 68, MCL 559.301 et seq., Michigan Legislature ↩
2. MCL 559.307, Michigan Legislature ↩
3. Governor Whitmer Signs Historic Clean Energy & Climate Action Package, State of Michigan (Nov. 28, 2023) ↩
4. Condominium Act, 1978 PA 59, MCL 559.101 et seq., Michigan Legislature ↩
5. Nonprofit Corporation Act, 1982 PA 162, MCL 450.2101 et seq., Michigan Legislature ↩
6. Richard M. Delonis, "Michigan's Homeowner Energy Policy Act: What Every HOA Board Needs to Know in 2026," Szura & Delonis, PLC (Feb. 9, 2026) ↩
7. MCL 559.305, Michigan Legislature ↩
8. MCL 559.309, Michigan Legislature ↩
9. MCL 559.313 (2024 PA 68, Sec. 13), Michigan Legislature ↩
10. 2024 PA 68, definitions (Sec. 3), Michigan Legislature ↩
11. MCL 559.156, Michigan Legislature ↩
12. MCL 559.311, Michigan Legislature ↩
13. MCL 559.315 (2024 PA 68, Sec. 15), Michigan Legislature ↩
14. House Bill 4363 of 2025, Michigan Legislature ↩
15. Solar Panel Dispute Laws, FindLaw (reviewed Sept. 29, 2025) ↩