New Jersey HOA Solar Rights

Key Findings

• The controlling provision is N.J.S.A. 45:22A-48.2, enacted as P.L. 2007, c.153, located in Title 45 in the PREDFDA chapter, and enforced by the Commissioner of Community Affairs.¹
• Coverage is limited to two roof types: a single-family dwelling roof solely owned by an individual and not designated as common element or common property, and a townhouse roof for which the owner, not the association, is responsible for repair.¹
• The standard runs as a reasonable-restriction standard with two hard limits: a 10 percent cost cap and a maximum-efficiency floor. The provision doesn't apply to associations under developer control.¹
• New Jersey is not a UCIOA state. The Condominium Act, N.J.S.A. 46:8B-1 et seq., PREDFDA, N.J.S.A. 45:22A-21 et seq., and the Cooperative Recording Act, N.J.S.A. 46:8D-1 et seq., apply by community type; the Radburn Act, P.L. 2017, c.106, works as a PREDFDA governance reform, not a solar law.²
• No published New Jersey appellate opinion in the past 36 months addresses association authority over solar collectors under N.J.S.A. 45:22A-48.2.
• New Jersey has not enacted a community association manager licensing statute.³

Details

Section 1: Overview — Solar rights for HOAs in New Jersey

New Jersey prohibits a community association from banning solar collectors. Under N.J.S.A. 45:22A-48.2, an association formed to manage commonly owned elements and facilities may not adopt or enforce a restriction, covenant, bylaw, rule, or regulation prohibiting the installation of solar collectors on qualifying roofs.¹ The provision sits in Title 45, in the statutory chapter that also contains the Planned Real Estate Development Full Disclosure Act (PREDFDA), rather than in the Title 46 property statutes.¹ The protection isn't absolute. The same statute lets an association adopt reasonable rules on matters such as roof placement, color harmonization, and installer qualifications, subject to a 10 percent cost cap and a maximum-efficiency limit.¹ The solar rule overlays a layered framework: condominiums answer to the Condominium Act, planned real estate developments answer to PREDFDA under Department of Community Affairs (DCA) oversight, and cooperatives answer to cooperative and corporate law.² That framework stays distinct from New Jersey's utility-side rules. Net metering and the state's solar incentive programs — the legacy Solar Renewable Energy Certificate program, which closed to new systems in 2020, and its successor, the Successor Solar Incentive (SuSI) Program launched in 2021 — are administered by the Board of Public Utilities and address the utility-customer relationship, not an association's authority over an owner's installation.⁴ Nationally, New Jersey belongs to the group of protection states whose statutes limit association solar restrictions rather than merely enabling voluntary easements. The sections that follow set out the statutory framework, the operational rules for associations, recent legislative activity, and New Jersey's national position.

Section 2: The statutory framework

2A. The solar-restriction provision

The controlling provision is N.J.S.A. 45:22A-48.2, enacted in 2007 as P.L. 2007, c.153.^1,5 It provides that an association formed for the management of commonly owned elements and facilities shall not adopt or enforce a restriction, covenant, bylaw, rule, or regulation prohibiting the installation of solar collectors on certain roofs.¹ The provision is codified in Title 45, in the same chapter as PREDFDA, and gets enforced by the Commissioner of Community Affairs under the authority granted in N.J.S.A. 45:22A-38.¹ It is a state statute limiting association authority; it is not a property-title easement rule and is not part of the Condominium Act.

The prohibition covers two defined roof types. The first is the roof of a single-family dwelling unit solely owned by an individual and not designated as a common element or common property in the association's governing documents. The second is the roof of a townhouse dwelling unit for which the governing documents make roof repair the responsibility of the owner and not the association.¹ The statute defines a townhouse as a single-family dwelling built with attached walls to another such unit on at least one side, extending from foundation to roof, with at least two unattached sides.¹ The provision doesn't apply to associations still under the control of the developer.¹

The standard runs as a reasonable-restriction standard with two hard limits. An association may regulate installer qualifications, certification, and insurance; the location where collectors may be placed on roofs; the concealment of supportive structures, fixtures, and piping; color harmonization with structures or landscaping; and the aggregate size, coverage, or number of collectors.¹ However, the statute provides that an association "shall not enforce any rule ... if compliance with a rule or rules would increase the solar collectors' installation or maintenance costs by an amount which is estimated to be greater than 10 percent of the total cost of the initial installation of the solar collectors, including the costs of labor and equipment," and it separately voids any rule that inhibits the collectors from functioning at their intended maximum efficiency.¹

This provision stands as the operative HOA-authority rule and shouldn't be confused with utility-side law. Net metering and the SuSI Program and its predecessor SREC market are administered by the Board of Public Utilities and govern the utility-customer relationship and incentive payments, not an association's power over an owner's installation.⁴

2B. The layered governing framework and DCA oversight

New Jersey regulates community associations through several statutes that apply by community type. The New Jersey Condominium Act, N.J.S.A. 46:8B-1 et seq., provides the framework for condominiums, addressing formation, common elements, association powers and duties, assessments, and dispute resolution.⁶ Planned real estate developments answer to PREDFDA, N.J.S.A. 45:22A-21 et seq., which the DCA administers. PREDFDA covers developer registration and disclosure and, since the Radburn Act amendments and their implementing regulations, governance matters such as elections, board procedures, and voting participation.²

The Radburn Act, P.L. 2017, c.106, works as a governance reform, not a solar law. It amended PREDFDA to reform association elections and enhance member voting rights, and the DCA adopted implementing regulations at N.J.A.C. 5:26 effective in 2020.⁷ It has no bearing on the solar provision, which predates it by a decade and sits in a different part of the statute. Cooperatives get recognized under the Cooperative Recording Act, N.J.S.A. 46:8D-1 et seq., and most associations, regardless of type, also organize under general nonprofit or corporate law, which governs the corporate side of the entity.²

New Jersey is not a Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (UCIOA) state, so its framework shouldn't be read to include UCIOA features. The solar provision overlays this layered structure. By its terms in N.J.S.A. 45:22A-48.2, it reaches any association formed for the management of commonly owned elements and facilities, which places condominium associations, planned-development associations, and cooperatives within its scope where an owner controls a qualifying roof.¹ The DCA's role in this area runs administrative. It administers PREDFDA registration and disclosure and adopted the Radburn governance regulations, and the solar statute names the Commissioner of Community Affairs as the enforcement authority.¹ The DCA works as a governance and disclosure regulator, not a solar regulator, and it isn't the usual forum for adjudicating an individual solar dispute.

2C. The reasonable-restriction boundary and the role of governing documents

The boundary is straightforward. An association may not prohibit the installation of solar collectors on a qualifying roof, and it may adopt reasonable rules on placement, appearance, installer qualifications, concealment, and quantity so long as those rules stay within the 10 percent cost cap and don't impair maximum efficiency. A rule that crosses either limit is unenforceable to that extent.¹

On the order of precedence, the statute controls over conflicting governing-document provisions within its scope. Because N.J.S.A. 45:22A-48.2 bars an association from adopting or enforcing any restriction, covenant, bylaw, rule, or regulation prohibiting a qualifying installation, a blanket prohibition in a master deed, declaration, or set of bylaws cannot be enforced against a qualifying owner.¹ An owner doesn't need to obtain an amendment to the governing documents to defeat such a prohibition. The DCA works as a governance and disclosure regulator and the named enforcement authority under the statute, not a general solar adjudicator, so a contested individual dispute is generally resolved through the association's alternative dispute resolution procedure and, if necessary, the courts.⁸ Architectural review retains a residual role: an association may run a solar request through its review process and apply valid placement, concealment, and appearance rules, provided the process isn't used to prohibit a qualifying installation or to impose a restriction that breaches the cost or efficiency limits.¹

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

A. What an association cannot do

An association may not adopt or enforce any restriction, covenant, bylaw, rule, or regulation prohibiting the installation of solar collectors on a qualifying single-family or townhouse roof; this mandatory rule under N.J.S.A. 45:22A-48.2 applies to associations not under developer control.¹ An association may not enforce a pre-existing governing-document ban against a qualifying owner, because the statute overrides conflicting covenants within its scope.¹

B. What an association may do

An association may adopt reasonable rules governing installer qualifications, certification, and insurance; roof placement; concealment of supportive structures, fixtures, and piping; color harmonization; and aggregate size, coverage, or number of collectors.¹ An association may apply its architectural review process to a solar request, provided the outcome is a permissible restriction and not a prohibition.¹

C. The reasonable-restriction standard and approval process

Any rule an association applies must not increase installation or maintenance cost by more than 10 percent of the total initial installation cost, including labor and equipment.¹ Any rule must not inhibit the collectors from functioning at their intended maximum efficiency, which constrains placement and concealment requirements that would reduce output.¹

D. Dispute resolution and remedies

Both the Condominium Act and PREDFDA require associations to provide a fair and efficient alternative dispute resolution procedure for housing-related disputes as an alternative to litigation.⁸ Trial-level disputes proceed through the New Jersey Superior Court. The Chancery Division hears equitable matters, including a suit for an injunction to compel or bar enforcement of a covenant; the Law Division hears actions at law, including damages. These stand as divisions of one Superior Court.⁹ Appeals go to the Superior Court, Appellate Division, the intermediate appellate court, with discretionary review by the New Jersey Supreme Court.⁹ The solar statute assigns enforcement to the Commissioner of Community Affairs and contains no private attorney-fee-shifting provision specific to solar disputes; a fee or damages remedy otherwise depends on the governing documents and general law.¹

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

S2368 / A4836, the "Garden State Balcony Solar Act," 2026-2027 session, would extend New Jersey's protection to portable, plug-in solar devices.

B. Recent appellate rulings

No published New Jersey appellate opinion in the past 36 months, July 2023 to present, squarely addresses a community association's authority over solar collectors under N.J.S.A. 45:22A-48.2. Appellate activity involving solar in this period has concerned utility-side incentive programs administered by the Board of Public Utilities, which sits outside the scope of association authority.¹³ Because no qualifying association-solar appellate ruling exists in the window, none is reported here.

C. Active legislative debates

S3562 (2026-2027 session), introduced February 19, 2026 and referred to the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee, would amend N.J.S.A. 45:22A-48.2 to make clear that associations cannot prohibit solar collectors on the roof of any single-family home or townhouse in a common interest community, broadening the current two-roof coverage. It remains pending in committee and is not enacted.¹⁴

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

New Jersey sits in the first of three broad categories of solar-rights states: strong-protection states whose statutes void or limit association solar restrictions, alongside 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. It is not a solar-easement-only state, which enable voluntary easements without overriding associations, and not a no-protection state, where the declaration fully controls. New Jersey's distinctive feature is a layered, actively regulated framework, with DCA oversight of PREDFDA and the Radburn governance reforms sitting beside the solar statute. For multi-state operators, the practical implication is that a New Jersey portfolio requires per-community analysis of roof ownership and governing-document language, because the protection turns on who controls and repairs the specific roof.

HOA Weekly's New Jersey Solar Rights coverage updates quarterly as the Legislature and the New Jersey courts act. No federal rule comparable to the FCC's OTARD rule extends to rooftop solar, so New Jersey's state statute controls here.

Recommendations

• Boards and managers should audit governing documents now for any blanket solar prohibition and treat it as unenforceable against a qualifying owner; retain only placement, appearance, concealment, and installer rules that stay within the 10 percent cost cap and the maximum-efficiency limit. The threshold that would change this approach is a statutory amendment, such as S3562, that broadens or narrows the covered roof types.
• Before denying or conditioning a request, confirm the roof qualifies — an individually owned single-family roof or owner-repair townhouse roof — and that the association is not under developer control, since those facts determine whether the statute applies. If the roof is a common element, such as a stacked condominium roof, the statute's protection doesn't attach and board approval or a master-deed amendment governs.
• Track S2368: if signed, calendar the six-month effective date and add a 14-day portable-device notice workflow. The trigger for action is the Governor's signature.
• Monitor S3562; if it advances out of the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee, coverage of the protection would broaden to all single-family and townhouse roofs in a community.

Caveats

• Some installer marketing pages assert that all New Jersey associations must adopt a written solar policy by April 1, 2026; that claim couldn't be verified against any New Jersey statute, regulation, or bill and isn't reflected here.
• S2368's status runs time-sensitive; it had passed both houses but was not signed as of July 18, 2026. The New Jersey Legislature's live bill-search pages render dynamically, so editors should confirm current status against the official chapter-laws page before publication.
• N.J.S.A. 45:22A-48.2 is cross-verified here against the New Jersey Statutes; the primary link is the njleg.gov statutes database, with Justia and CAI used only to confirm the text.

Footnotes

1. N.J.S.A. 45:22A-48.2, "Solar collectors on certain roofs, homeowners association authority limited" (P.L. 2007, c.153), New Jersey Statutes (unannotated), njleg.gov; text cross-verified at Community Associations Institute and Justia. ↩
2. Planned Real Estate Development Full Disclosure Act, N.J.S.A. 45:22A-21 et seq.; New Jersey Condominium Act, N.J.S.A. 46:8B-1 et seq.; Cooperative Recording Act, N.J.S.A. 46:8D-1 et seq. (overview via Homeowners Protection Bureau summary of New Jersey association statutes). ↩
3. New Jersey does not license community association managers; the DCA does not issue a CAM license, and a real-estate license is required only for brokerage or leasing tasks (RunHOA New Jersey summary; FirstService Residential, "How to become a property manager in NJ"). ↩
4. New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, Successor Solar Incentive (SuSI) Program launch (July 28, 2021), and NJDEP Clean Energy / Solar page describing the closure of the SREC program to new applications, nj.gov/bpu and dep.nj.gov. ↩
5. P.L. 2007, c.153, "Limits homeowners' association regulation of solar collectors on certain roofs," New Jersey State Law Library. ↩
6. New Jersey Condominium Act, N.J.S.A. 46:8B-15 (Powers of association) and 46:8B-14 (Responsibilities of association). ↩
7. Radburn Act (P.L. 2017, c.106) amendments to PREDFDA and DCA implementing regulations at N.J.A.C. 5:26 (Greenbaum Rowe Smith & Davis LLP analysis of the DCA regulations effective 2020). ↩
8. N.J.S.A. 46:8B-14(k) and PREDFDA require associations to provide a fair and efficient alternative dispute resolution procedure for housing-related disputes. ↩
9. New Jersey Superior Court structure: the Chancery Division (equity) and Law Division (actions at law) as divisions of the Superior Court, with appeals to the Superior Court, Appellate Division, and discretionary review by the New Jersey Supreme Court, njcourts.gov. ↩
10. S2368 (2026-2027), "Garden State Balcony Solar Act," third reprint text, including the association/condominium provision, reasonable-restriction and 14-day-notice requirements, the 1,200-watt cap, and UL 3700 listing, pub.njleg.gov. ↩
11. S2368 official bill page and legislative history (Senate passage 38-0 on March 23, 2026; Assembly 79-0-1 and Senate concurrence 40-0 on June 30, 2026), njleg.gov. ↩
12. pv magazine USA (July 1, 2026), reporting the Legislature's passage of S2368 and its transmittal to the Governor for signature. ↩
13. Representative recent Appellate Division solar activity concerns BPU incentive-program matters (e.g., In re N.J. Solar Transition), not association authority, njcourts.gov. ↩
14. S3562 (2026-2027), "Concerns installation and maintenance of solar panels in common interest communities," introduced and referred to the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee on February 19, 2026, njleg.gov. ↩