Texas HOA Solar Rights

Key Findings

Texas stands as a strong-protection solar-rights state, subject to carve-outs. Section 202.010(b) states that, except as provided by subsection (d), a property owners' association may not include or enforce a provision in a dedicatory instrument that prohibits or restricts a property owner from installing a solar energy device, and subsection (c) declares any provision that violates subsection (b) void. The load-bearing detail is subsection (d), which lists the specific conditions under which an association may still prohibit a device.

The single most error-prone item is the location standard. Section 202.010(d)(5)(B) allows an association to require a roof device to sit in an association-designated area, unless the alternate location the owner prefers increases the estimated annual energy production of the device, as determined using a publicly available modeling tool provided by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the PVWatts Calculator, by more than 10 percent above the production at the designated location. The Texas standard is framed solely around energy production measured by a National Renewable Energy Laboratory tool. It doesn't contain a separate dollar cost cap of the kind found in California law, so this page doesn't state one.

Section 202.010 was added by House Bill 362 in 2011, amended by Senate Bill 1626 in 2015 to narrow the development-period exception, and amended again by House Bill 431 in 2025 to add solar roof tiles to the definition of solar energy device.

No published Texas appellate opinion has interpreted Section 202.010 in a solar dispute within the past 36 months.

Details

Section 1: Overview: Solar rights for HOAs in Texas

Texas Property Code Section 202.010 provides that, with defined exceptions, a property owners' association may not include or enforce a dedicatory-instrument provision that prohibits or restricts a property owner from installing a solar energy device, and any provision that violates that rule is void.¹ The protection isn't absolute. Subsection (d) preserves a detailed set of carve-outs that keep meaningful association authority over location, health and safety, common areas, structural integrity, appearance, prior approval, and the developer-controlled development period.¹ Section 202.010 sits in Chapter 202, the general chapter on construction and enforcement of restrictive covenants, rather than in a chapter limited to one community type, so it reaches property governed by different forms of association.¹ That placement overlays a layered Property Code framework in which planned-community associations operate under the Texas Residential Property Owners Protection Act, Chapter 209, and condominiums operate under the Texas Uniform Condominium Act, Chapter 82, or the older Chapter 81.^2,3 Within the national landscape, Texas ranks among the strong-protection states whose statutes void association solar bans, though its carve-outs make the protection conditional. The sections that follow set out the statute and its carve-outs, the layered framework, what an association may and may not do, recent legislative and judicial activity, and Texas's national position.

Section 2: The statutory framework

2A. The core solar statute and its carve-outs: Tex. Prop. Code Section 202.010

Section 202.010 was added by House Bill 362, enacted by the 82nd Legislature and effective June 17, 2011.⁴ Subsection (b) provides that, except as otherwise provided by subsection (d), a property owners' association may not include or enforce a provision in a dedicatory instrument that prohibits or restricts a property owner from installing a solar energy device, and subsection (c) states that a provision violating subsection (b) is void.¹ The term solar energy device takes its meaning from Section 171.107 of the Tax Code and, following a 2025 amendment, expressly includes a solar roof tile.¹

Subsection (d) lists the conditions under which an association may still prohibit a device. An association may prohibit a device that, as adjudicated by a court, threatens public health or safety or violates a law; that is located on property owned or maintained by the association; that is located on property owned in common by the members; or that is located on the owner's property somewhere other than the roof of the home or another permitted structure, or a fenced yard or patio owned and maintained by the owner.¹ For roof-mounted devices, an association may prohibit a device that extends higher than or beyond the roofline; that sits in an area other than the association-designated area, unless the alternate location increases estimated annual energy production, as determined using a publicly available National Renewable Energy Laboratory modeling tool, by more than 10 percent above the designated-location production; that doesn't conform to the roof slope and has a top edge not parallel to the roofline; or that has a frame, support bracket, or visible piping or wiring not in a silver, bronze, or black tone commonly available in the marketplace.¹ An association may also prohibit a device that, if located in a fenced yard or patio, is taller than the fence line; that voids material warranties as installed; or that was installed without prior approval by the association or its designated committee.¹ Subsection (e) provides that the association or its architectural review committee may not withhold approval if the authorized provisions are met, unless it determines in writing that the placement substantially interferes with the use and enjoyment of land by causing unreasonable discomfort or annoyance to persons of ordinary sensibilities.¹ Because Section 202.010 addresses dedicatory instruments and restrictive covenants generally, its rule applies across community types rather than to a single form of association.¹

2B. The layered Property Code framework

Section 202.010 operates against a layered Property Code structure, and the chapters remain distinct. Planned-community property owners' associations operate under the Texas Residential Property Owners Protection Act, Chapter 209, which by its own terms applies to residential subdivisions with mandatory membership and doesn't apply to a condominium development governed by Chapter 82.² Condominiums for which the declaration was recorded on or after January 1, 1994 answer to the Texas Uniform Condominium Act, Chapter 82.³ Chapter 82 is a Texas adaptation of the condominium provisions of the model act, and Texas is therefore best described as a state with a Uniform Condominium Act rather than as a full Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act state. Condominiums for which the declaration was recorded before January 1, 1994 fall under the older Texas Condominium Act, Chapter 81, and certain Chapter 82 provisions also apply to those older regimes by statute.⁵ Restrictive covenants generally, including the solar rule, sit in Chapter 202.¹ The corporate side of an association organized as a nonprofit corporation answers to the Texas Business Organizations Code. An obligation under one chapter doesn't automatically carry over to another, so Section 202.010 functions as an overlay that voids conflicting solar restrictions regardless of which governing chapter otherwise applies to the association.

2C. The carve-out boundary and the role of governing documents

The boundary is defined by what subsection (d) permits. An association may enforce a designated roof location within the energy-production standard, health-and-safety and legality limits adjudicated by a court, authority over association-owned and common property, limits on placement off the roof or permitted structures, structural and appearance standards, and prior-approval review.¹ An association may not prohibit or restrict a compliant device beyond those limits, because subsection (c) voids any conflicting covenant provision.¹ The order of precedence is that Section 202.010 voids conflicting dedicatory-instrument provisions within its scope, while subsection (d) preserves the defined authority the statute lists. Architectural review retains a residual role: subsection (e) confirms that an association or its committee reviews and approves solar installations, but it may not withhold approval for a device that meets or exceeds the authorized provisions except on the written substantial-interference finding the statute specifies.¹

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

3A. What an association cannot do

An association may not include or enforce a dedicatory-instrument provision that prohibits or restricts a property owner from installing a solar energy device, and any such provision is void, Section 202.010(b)-(c); this mandatory baseline rule applies across community types.¹ An association may not withhold approval of a device that meets or exceeds the authorized provisions unless it makes the written substantial-interference finding, Section 202.010(e); this limit on architectural review is mandatory.¹

3B. What an association may do

An association may designate the roof area for a device and enforce that location unless an alternate location would raise estimated annual energy production by more than 10 percent under the National Renewable Energy Laboratory PVWatts Calculator, Section 202.010(d)(5)(B); this authority stays discretionary and rests on the carve-out.¹ An association may prohibit a device that a court adjudicates a threat to public health or safety or a violation of law, and may control devices on association-owned or common property, Section 202.010(d)(1)-(3).¹ An association may enforce roofline, slope, appearance-tone, fence-height, warranty, and prior-approval standards, Section 202.010(d)(4)-(8); these discretionary standards ground in the carve-outs.¹ During the development period for a development with fewer than 51 planned residential units, the declarant may prohibit or restrict installation, Section 202.010(f); this authority belongs to the declarant, not the owner-controlled board.¹

3C. The carve-out analysis and approval process

The location-and-efficiency standard gets applied by comparing the association-designated location against the owner's preferred location using the National Renewable Energy Laboratory PVWatts Calculator, with the association-designated location permissible unless the owner's preferred location would raise estimated annual production by more than the 10 percent margin, Section 202.010(d)(5)(B).¹ The development-period exception operates only while a declarant reserves development and control rights and only in developments with fewer than 51 planned residential units, a limit added by Senate Bill 1626 in 2015, Section 202.010(f).^1,6 A solar request is handled through the association's prior-approval process, and the association or committee must approve a device that meets the authorized provisions absent the written substantial-interference finding, Section 202.010(e).¹

3D. Dispute resolution and remedies

A solar dispute runs civil and proceeds through the Texas trial courts. It begins in a Texas district court, general jurisdiction, with county courts at law handling lower-value matters, then to the regional Texas Court of Appeals for the district covering the county, and ultimately to the Texas Supreme Court, the court of last resort for civil matters; the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is the court of last resort for criminal matters and isn't in the civil HOA path.⁷ The intermediate courts organize into fourteen regional districts, while the separate Fifteenth Court of Appeals hears certain state-government and business-court matters and generally isn't the forum for a routine HOA dispute.⁷ On remedies, Chapter 202 provides that a court may assess civil damages for the violation of a restrictive covenant in an amount not to exceed 200 dollars for each day of the violation, Section 202.004(c), and the exercise of an association's discretionary authority concerning a covenant is presumed reasonable unless shown to be arbitrary, capricious, or discriminatory, Section 202.004(a).⁸ The practical consequence of an unlawful solar restriction is that the offending covenant provision is void under Section 202.010(c) and unenforceable against the owner.¹

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

4A. Recent bills

4B. Recent appellate rulings

No published opinion from a Texas Court of Appeals or the Texas Supreme Court has interpreted Section 202.010 in a solar-device dispute within the past 36 months. The most frequently cited Chapter 202 decision from the Texas Supreme Court, Tarr v. Timberwood Park Owners Association, Inc., 556 S.W.3d 274 (Tex. 2018), interprets the liberal-construction rule in Section 202.003 in the context of short-term rentals, not the solar statute, and predates the review window.¹¹ Section 202.010 therefore remains judicially uninterpreted at the appellate level in the solar context, so association authority rests on the statutory text.

4C. Active legislative debates

The 89th Regular Session adjourned sine die on June 2, 2025 without any pending proposal to alter the subsection (d) carve-outs beyond the clarifying HB 431 change, and because the Texas Legislature meets in regular session only in odd-numbered years, the next regular opportunity to amend Section 202.010 is the 2027 session.¹²

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

Solar-rights regimes fall into three broad categories. Strong-protection states have statutes that void or limit association solar restrictions, including California, Civil Code Section 714; Florida, Florida Statutes Section 163.04; Arizona, A.R.S. Section 33-1816; Colorado, C.R.S. Section 38-30-168; Nevada, NRS 111.239; and Texas, Property Code Section 202.010.^13,14 Solar-easement-only states enable voluntary easements but don't override association authority, and no-protection states leave the declaration in full control. Texas belongs in the strong-protection category, though its detailed subsection (d) carve-outs make the protection conditional rather than absolute. For multi-state operators, the practical implication is that a compliance template built for California cannot be dropped onto a Texas portfolio, because Texas measures the location standard purely by a National Renewable Energy Laboratory energy-production test and lists its own appearance and development-period rules. Legislative momentum in Texas has run incremental, extending the existing protection to solar roof tiles rather than expanding or narrowing the core carve-outs.

HOA Weekly's Texas Solar Rights coverage updates quarterly as the legislature and Texas courts act. No federal rule comparable to the FCC's Over-the-Air Reception Devices rule extends to rooftop solar, so Texas's state statute controls association authority over solar installations here.¹⁵

Recommendations

• Immediate step for boards and managers: audit governing documents for any provision that bans solar devices or solar roof tiles, and treat those provisions as void under Section 202.010(c) rather than enforcing them.
• Rebuild the architectural-review workflow around subsection (d): require prior approval, apply the designated-location rule subject to the 10 percent National Renewable Energy Laboratory PVWatts energy-production test, and apply appearance and roofline standards, but don't deny a compliant application absent the written substantial-interference finding under subsection (e).
• For developer-controlled associations, confirm whether the development has fewer than 51 planned residential units before relying on the development-period exception in subsection (f); above that threshold, the exception is unavailable.
• Benchmark that would change the guidance: a Texas Court of Appeals or Texas Supreme Court opinion construing Section 202.010, or a 2027-session amendment to subsection (d), would warrant an immediate revision of association solar policies.

Caveats

• The location standard is stated from the verified statutory text and is framed solely in terms of estimated annual energy production measured by a National Renewable Energy Laboratory tool. Texas doesn't impose the separate dollar cost cap found in some other states, so none is stated here.
• Distributed-generation compensation, net metering, retail electric provider buyback plans, ERCOT, and the Public Utility Commission of Texas are utility-customer and market matters, not limits on association authority over solar installations, and sit outside the scope of this page.
• Texas has no dedicated HOA regulator; no state agency regulates property owners' associations, the Texas Real Estate Commission handles real estate licensing and hosts the HOA management-certificate database but doesn't police governance, and Texas doesn't require community association managers to hold a separate license.
• The federal solar Investment Tax Credit is a tax incentive and has no bearing on association authority.

Footnotes

1. Tex. Prop. Code Section 202.010, Regulation of Solar Energy Devices, Chapter 202 (Construction and Enforcement of Restrictive Covenants), Texas Constitution and Statutes ↩
2. Tex. Prop. Code Chapter 209, Texas Residential Property Owners Protection Act, including Section 209.003 (Applicability), Texas Constitution and Statutes ↩
3. Tex. Prop. Code Chapter 82, Uniform Condominium Act, including Section 82.002 (Applicability), Texas Constitution and Statutes ↩
4. H.B. 362, 82nd Legislature, Regular Session (2011), Enrolled version, Texas Legislature Online (added Section 202.010, eff. June 17, 2011) ↩
5. Tex. Prop. Code Chapter 81, Condominiums, including Section 81.0011 (Applicability, condominium regimes created before January 1, 1994), Texas Constitution and Statutes ↩
6. S.B. 1626, 84th Legislature, Regular Session (2015), Texas Legislature Online (amended Section 202.010, eff. September 1, 2015) ↩
7. Texas Judicial Branch, About Texas Courts, Courts of Appeals (fourteen regional districts; Fifteenth Court of Appeals statewide civil jurisdiction over specified state-government and business-court matters) ↩
8. Tex. Prop. Code Section 202.004, Enforcement of Restrictive Covenants, Texas Constitution and Statutes ↩
9. H.B. 431, 89th Legislature, Regular Session (2025), Texas Legislature Online (effective May 29, 2025) ↩
10. Senate Research Center Bill Analysis, H.B. 431, 89th Legislature (Section 2: amendment intended to clarify rather than change existing law) ↩
11. Tarr v. Timberwood Park Owners Association, Inc., 556 S.W.3d 274 (Tex. 2018), Supreme Court of Texas (interpreting Section 202.003 liberal-construction rule; short-term rentals) ↩
12. Texas State Law Library, New Laws from the 89th Legislature (2025) (89th Regular Session convened January 14, 2025, adjourned sine die June 2, 2025; regular sessions in odd-numbered years) ↩
13. Cal. Civ. Code Section 714, Restrictions on Solar Energy Systems, California Legislative Information ↩
14. Nev. Rev. Stat. 111.239, Prohibition or restriction on use of system for obtaining solar energy on property, Nevada Legislature ↩
15. Federal Communications Commission, Over-the-Air Reception Devices (OTARD) Rule, 47 C.F.R. Section 1.4000 (covering antennas and satellite dishes, not rooftop solar) ↩