Ohio HOA Solar Rights

Ohio HOA Solar Rights

Section 1: Overview — Solar rights for HOAs in Ohio

Ohio limits a community association's ability to prohibit or restrict solar energy systems through two statutory provisions enacted in 2022, so it stands as a protection state, not a no-protection or easement-only state. Senate Bill 61 of the 134th General Assembly, effective September 13, 2022, added Ohio Revised Code Section 5311.192 for condominiums1 and Section 5312.16 for planned communities.2 Both provide that, unless the declaration specifically prohibits solar, an owner may install a solar energy collection device, subject only to the association's reasonable restrictions on size, place, and manner of placement.1 This restriction-override stays distinct from Ohio's older solar access easement statute at Section 5301.63, which lets neighboring owners create a recorded easement for sunlight by voluntary agreement and doesn't override an association's authority.3 It also stays distinct from Ohio's utility-side net metering rules, which govern the electric-utility relationship through the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and have no bearing on association authority.4 Ohio maintains a two-statute common-interest framework: condominiums fall under the Condominium Property Act, Chapter 5311,5 and planned communities under the Planned Community Law, Chapter 5312.6 The sections that follow detail the statutory framework, the operational rules for associations, and recent legislative and judicial activity.

Section 2: The statutory framework

2A. Solar-access provision

Ohio does limit declaration-based solar prohibitions. Substitute Senate Bill 61 of the 134th General Assembly, sponsored by Senator Louis W. Blessing III (R-Cincinnati) and Senator Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood), signed by Governor Mike DeWine on June 14, 2022 and effective September 13, 2022, enacted Section 5311.192, for condominiums, and Section 5312.16, for planned communities.7 Each provides that, "unless specifically prohibited in the declaration," an owner may install a solar energy collection device if either the owner bears the cost to insure, maintain, repair, and replace the roof or alternative location, or the declaration specifically allows for and regulates the devices and assigns those costs.1,2 Each statute defines a "solar energy collection device" as "any device manufactured and sold for the sole purpose of facilitating the collection and beneficial use of solar energy, including passive heating panels or building components and solar photovoltaic apparatus."1 For condominiums, the right runs only to a "solar appropriate unit," which the statute defines as a condominium unit that doesn't have any other condominium units directly above or below it, and applies to installation on the roof of that unit.1 In both statutes, the association retains authority to establish reasonable restrictions on the size, place, and manner of placement.1,2 The structure works as a limited restriction-override: a declaration may still ban solar outright by specific prohibition, but silence in the declaration defaults to owner permission subject to reasonable regulation. This places Ohio between a strong-protection regime and a no-protection regime. Separately, Ohio's net metering rules, codified in the Ohio Administrative Code and administered by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, govern the utility-customer billing relationship for excess generation and don't affect an association's authority over installations.4

2B. The two-statute common-interest framework

Ohio administers common-interest communities under two distinct statutes. The Ohio Condominium Property Act, Chapter 5311, applies only to property specifically submitted to its provisions by the execution and recording of a declaration, and it governs condominium unit owners associations, common elements, assessments, liens, and enforcement.5 The Ohio Planned Community Law, Chapter 5312, enacted effective September 10, 2010 by Senate Bill 187 of the 128th General Assembly, applies to any planned community in the state, defined as a development in which owners must join an owners association, the association holds or leases common property, or owners support shared property or facilities by fees.6 Chapter 5312 expressly excludes condominium property defined under Section 5311.01, keeping the two regimes separate.6 Chapter 5312 covers governance, board authority, amendments, assessments, liens, and enforcement for planned communities. On the corporate side, Ohio community associations organize as nonprofit corporations, so the Ohio Nonprofit Corporation Law, Chapter 1702, governs their corporate existence and internal procedures.8 Ohio hasn't adopted the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, so UCIOA features shouldn't be imported into the analysis, and Chapter 5311 and Chapter 5312 shouldn't be conflated. The solar provisions track this division: Section 5311.192 sits within the Condominium Property Act and Section 5312.16 within the Planned Community Law, with parallel but separately drafted text.

2C. The solar easement statute, governing documents, and order of precedence

Ohio's solar access easement statute, Section 5301.63, allows any person, for the purpose of ensuring adequate access of solar energy collection devices to sunlight, to grant a solar access easement in writing, subject to the same conveyance and recording requirements as other easements.3 It works as a voluntary instrument between consenting owners and doesn't give a unit owner any right to install solar over an association's objection, nor does it void declaration-based solar restrictions. It is not a solar-access statute in the restriction-override sense. On order of precedence, the restriction-override in Section 5311.192 or Section 5312.16 controls: a declaration that stays silent on solar cannot be read to prohibit it, and the owner's statutory permission applies subject to reasonable restrictions.1,2 Where the declaration specifically prohibits solar, that prohibition stands. Absent a specific prohibition, the declaration, bylaws, and association rules control the details, subject to the statutory reasonable-restriction limit and general doctrines of good faith and reasonable enforcement. Architectural review continues to operate as the mechanism for applying reasonable size, place, and manner restrictions. In a condominium, the roof is often a common element, so the statute conditions the roof-mounted right on the declaration defining the roof as part of the unit or specifically authorizing devices in common elements.1 In a planned community, the lot owner typically owns and maintains the roof, so the owner more readily meets the cost-responsibility condition.2

Section 3: What an Ohio association can and cannot do regarding solar

A. Approval and architectural review

A solar installation remains subject to the association's architectural review, but review stays bounded by statute: under Section 5311.192(B) and Section 5312.16(B), an association may establish only reasonable restrictions concerning the size, place, and manner of placement of solar energy collection devices.1,2 This authority derives from the applicable statute and the declaration and is mandatory in the sense that it caps how far an association may go where the declaration stays silent.

B. Permissible and impermissible restrictions

An association cannot deny an installation solely because the declaration stays silent on solar; where the declaration doesn't specifically prohibit solar and the owner meets the cost-responsibility or declaration-authorization condition, the owner may install, per Section 5311.192(A) and Section 5312.16(A).1,2 An association may still adopt reasonable size, place, and manner restrictions, and a declaration that specifically prohibits solar remains enforceable, so the statutory limit is the reasonableness of restrictions rather than a numeric cap.

C. Governing-document and disclosure considerations

Solar rules typically appear in the declaration, bylaws, or board-adopted rules; a specific solar prohibition must sit in the declaration to be effective against the statutory default.1,2 Amending a planned-community declaration or bylaws is governed by Section 5312.05, which sets a higher threshold than a board rule.9 Before imposing a charge for damages or an enforcement assessment related to solar in a planned community, Section 5312.16(C) requires the board to give the owner written notice describing the violation, the proposed charge, the right to a hearing, the hearing procedure, and a cure date.2

D. Dispute resolution and remedies

Disputes proceed in the Ohio Court of Common Pleas, the trial court of general jurisdiction present in each of Ohio's 88 counties, with appeals to the Court of Appeals for the appropriate one of twelve appellate districts and discretionary review by the Ohio Supreme Court.10 Both statutes supply a fee-shifting remedy: Section 5311.19, for condominiums, and Section 5312.13, for planned communities, provide that a violation of the covenants, conditions, and restrictions is grounds for the association or an owner to bring a civil action for damages, injunctive relief, or both, plus court costs and reasonable attorney's fees.11,12

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

No bill introduced or enacted in the past 24 months, the 135th and 136th General Assemblies, July 2024 through July 2026, amends Section 5311.192 or Section 5312.16 or otherwise changes an Ohio community association's authority over solar energy collection devices. The authenticated Ohio Revised Code shows both sections with a single version each, effective September 13, 2022, enacted by Senate Bill 61 of the 134th General Assembly, with no later amendment.1,2 The only solar-related bill in the current General Assembly, House Bill 755 of the 136th General Assembly, introduced March 11, 2026 and referred to the House Energy committee March 18, 2026, sponsored by Representatives Tristan Rader and Chris Glassburn, concerns portable solar generation devices and amends the public-utilities chapter, Section 4928.01 and new Sections 4928.74 through 4928.742; it doesn't touch Chapter 5311 or Chapter 5312 and stands as a utility-side matter outside this page's scope.13

B. Recent appellate rulings

No Ohio Court of Appeals or Ohio Supreme Court decision issued in the past 36 months, July 2023 through July 2026, applies Section 5311.192 or Section 5312.16 or otherwise addresses a community association's architectural authority as applied to a homeowner's rooftop solar installation. The Ohio appellate solar decisions in this window involve utility-scale solar farm siting before the Ohio Power Siting Board, not association authority, and fall outside this topic.14 The closest Ohio appellate decision on association architectural authority over solar predates the window: Sander v. Country Brook Homeowners Assn., 12th District Court of Appeals (Warren County), 2020-Ohio-2196, which turned on the association's failure to timely act on an application under its declaration and the Nonprofit Corporation Law rather than the 2022 solar statutes.15

C. Active legislative debates

No active proposal to enact broader solar protection for Ohio community associations turned up in the 136th General Assembly; the principal active solar debate in Ohio is a utility-side net-metering proceeding before the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, which sits outside the scope of association authority.4

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

Solar-rights regimes fall into three categories: strong-protection states whose statutes void or sharply limit association solar restrictions — for example California Civil Code Section 714, Florida Statutes Section 163.04, Arizona Revised Statutes Section 33-1816, Colorado Revised Statutes Section 38-30-168, Nevada Revised Statutes 278.0208 and 116.2111, and Texas Property Code Section 202.010;16 solar-easement-only states, which enable voluntary easements but don't override associations; and no-protection states, where the declaration fully controls. Ohio sits in the protection category by virtue of its 2022 restriction-override in Sections 5311.192 and 5312.16, though its protection stays qualified because a declaration may still specifically prohibit solar and associations retain reasonable size, place, and manner authority. Its standalone solar easement statute alone would place it only in the easement-only category, but the 2022 statutes move it beyond that. For multi-state operators, the practical implication is that Ohio permits solar by default where declarations stay silent, so associations should audit declarations and adopt reasonable, written solar rules rather than rely on silence. Legislative momentum on the HOA-solar question has stayed static since 2022, with recent activity confined to utility-side matters.

HOA Weekly's Ohio Solar Rights coverage updates quarterly as the Ohio General Assembly and the Ohio courts act. No federal rule comparable to the FCC's OTARD rule extends to rooftop solar, so Ohio's state law controls the association-authority question here.

Recommendations

Immediate, for all Ohio associations. Read the recorded declaration to determine whether it contains a specific solar prohibition. If it doesn't, the default rule under Section 5311.192 or Section 5312.16 is that owners may install, and the board's only lever is reasonable size, place, and manner rules. Boards relying on silence to deny applications stay exposed to the fee-shifting remedy in Section 5311.19 or Section 5312.13, which lets a prevailing owner recover court costs and reasonable attorney's fees.

Near-term, for boards and managers. Adopt written solar rules that specify reasonable size, place, and manner standards, an application and review timeline, and, for planned communities, the Section 5312.16(C) written-notice-and-hearing procedure before any solar-related charge. Distinguish condominium roofs, often common elements, so the statute requires the declaration to define the roof as part of the unit or to authorize devices in common elements, from planned-community lots, where the owner usually owns and maintains the roof.

Strategic, for associations wanting to prohibit or tightly control solar. A specific prohibition must sit in the declaration itself, which requires an owner-approved amendment — for planned communities, under Section 5312.05; a board rule cannot substitute for the declaration on the threshold question of whether solar is banned. Weigh whether an outright ban is worth the amendment effort against reasonable restrictions that the statute already permits.

Benchmarks that would change this guidance. Watch for any bill in the 136th or a later General Assembly that amends Section 5311.192 or 5312.16, and for the first published Ohio Court of Appeals or Supreme Court decision construing "reasonable restrictions" under those sections; either development would recalibrate how much latitude boards have.

Caveats

This page addresses only association authority over solar installations. It doesn't address utility-side net metering, interconnection, or distributed-generation compensation, which fall under the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and are governed by separate law. The 2022 statutes haven't yet been construed by an Ohio appellate court, so the precise boundary of a "reasonable" restriction stays untested; the analysis here rests on statutory text. Ohio has no dedicated HOA regulator and doesn't require community association managers to hold a real estate or dedicated CAM license. The absence of a recent qualifying bill or case is based on the authenticated Ohio Revised Code and available court and legislative records as of July 18, 2026; absence of a case cannot be proven with certainty. Federal law is not a source of solar protection here: no rule comparable to the FCC's OTARD rule covers rooftop solar.

Footnotes

  1. Ohio Rev. Code § 5311.192, Solar energy collection devices (Condominium Property Act), effective Sept. 13, 2022 ↩
  2. Ohio Rev. Code § 5312.16, Solar energy collection devices (Planned Community Law), effective Sept. 13, 2022 ↩
  3. Ohio Rev. Code § 5301.63, Solar access easement requirements ↩
  4. Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, Net metering (Ohio Adm. Code 4901:1-10-28) ↩
  5. Ohio Rev. Code § 5311.02, Chapter applicable to condominium property ↩
  6. Ohio Rev. Code § 5312.01, Definitions (Ohio Planned Community Law), effective Sept. 10, 2010, Senate Bill 187, 128th General Assembly ↩
  7. Senate Bill 61, 134th General Assembly, Ohio Legislature (sponsors Sen. Louis W. Blessing III and Sen. Nickie Antonio; signed June 14, 2022; effective Sept. 13, 2022) ↩
  8. Ohio Rev. Code Chapter 1702, Nonprofit Corporation Law ↩
  9. Ohio Rev. Code § 5312.05, Amendments to declaration or bylaws ↩
  10. Supreme Court of Ohio, Ohio Court of Appeals (twelve appellate districts); Court of Common Pleas in each of 88 counties ↩
  11. Ohio Rev. Code § 5311.19, Compliance with deed restrictions, declaration, bylaws and administrative rules and regulations (damages, injunctive relief, costs, and reasonable attorney's fees) ↩
  12. Ohio Rev. Code § 5312.13, Compliance with covenants, conditions and restrictions; action for damages (damages, injunctive relief, costs, and reasonable attorney's fees) ↩
  13. House Bill 755, 136th General Assembly, Ohio Legislature (portable solar generation devices; amends R.C. 4928.01 and enacts R.C. 4928.74–4928.742) ↩
  14. In re Application of Oak Run Solar Project, L.L.C., Slip Opinion No. 2026-Ohio-1849 (Ohio Supreme Court) — utility-scale solar siting, illustrating that recent Ohio appellate solar decisions concern siting, not association authority ↩
  15. Sander v. Country Brook Homeowners Assn., Inc., Ohio Court of Appeals, Twelfth District, Warren County, No. CA2019-08-079, 2020-Ohio-2196 ↩
  16. Nevada strong-protection statutes: Nev. Rev. Stat. 278.0208 and 116.2111 (covenant restricting solar use void and unenforceable). Editors should verify the current text at the Nevada Legislature (leg.state.nv.us). Comparative state citations: Cal. Civ. Code § 714; Fla. Stat. § 163.04; Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1816; Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-30-168; Tex. Prop. Code § 202.010. ↩
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