Washington HOA Solar Rights

Section 1: Overview — Solar rights for HOAs in Washington

Washington limits a community association's authority to prohibit solar energy panels and permits only reasonable restrictions, but the governing provision depends on which of the state's community-association statutes applies to the community. For planned-community homeowners' associations formed before July 1, 2018, the controlling text is RCW 64.38.055, which states that governing documents "may not prohibit the installation of a solar energy panel by an owner or resident on the owner's or resident's property" that meets applicable safety and certification standards.¹ For common interest communities created on or after July 1, 2018, the parallel limit sits in the Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act at RCW 64.90.510.² Washington operates four community-association statutes, and the act that governs turns on community type and creation date, so a manager must first identify the applicable statute before applying any solar rule. The protection isn't absolute: both provisions allow associations to adopt reasonable rules on placement and manner, so the standard bars prohibition while preserving design controls. This state-law protection stays separate from Washington's utility-side net metering program, which is customer-utility policy administered through the Utilities and Transportation Commission and doesn't govern association authority.³ Washington sits among the states that limit association solar restrictions rather than merely enabling voluntary easements. The sections that follow trace the statutory framework, the reach of the solar provisions, and what associations may and may not do.

Section 2: The statutory framework

2A. The solar provision and its reach

Washington's association-solar limit appears in two places, and each reaches a different set of communities. Under the Homeowners' Associations Act, RCW 64.38.055 provides that governing documents may not prohibit an owner's or resident's solar energy panel that meets state and local permitting standards, water-heating certification standards, and, for electricity generation, "all applicable safety and performance standards established by the national electric code, the institute of electrical and electronics engineers, accredited testing laboratories, such as underwriters laboratories, and, where applicable, rules of the utilities and transportation commission regarding safety and reliability."¹ The section applies retroactively to any governing document in effect on July 26, 2009, and a provision inconsistent with the section "is void and unenforceable."¹ Under WUCIOA, RCW 64.90.510(3) states that "the association may not prohibit the installation of a solar energy panel on or within a unit" meeting the same standards, and it may not be construed to permit installation on common elements without board approval.²

The reach follows the four-statute structure. RCW 64.90.510 governs common interest communities created on or after July 1, 2018.⁴ RCW 64.38.055 governs planned-community homeowners' associations created before that date. WUCIOA's applicability section, RCW 64.90.365, lists the specific WUCIOA provisions that reach pre-2018 communities, and the solar provision, RCW 64.90.510, isn't among them, so the WUCIOA solar limit doesn't apply retroactively to older communities.⁵ Pre-2018 condominiums governed by the Condominium Act, RCW 64.34, or the Horizontal Property Regimes Act, RCW 64.32, aren't covered by RCW 64.38.055, and neither condominium act contains a comparable solar-installation provision, so those communities appear to lack an express statutory solar-installation right until the January 1, 2028 transition to WUCIOA; managers should confirm coverage against the specific governing documents.⁶ Washington also has a voluntary solar easement statute, RCW 64.04.140 and RCW 64.04.150, which lets adjoining owners create recorded easements to protect sunlight access; it stays distinct from the association-solar provisions and doesn't by itself override an association.⁷ Net metering under RCW 80.60 is a separate utility-customer matter and doesn't bear on association authority.³

2B. The four-statute layered framework

Washington governs community associations through four statutes, and the governing act depends on community type and creation date. WUCIOA, RCW 64.90, is based on the Uniform Law Commission's Common Interest Ownership Act, a uniform law Washington shares with nine other states, including Alaska, and it governs common interest communities — condominiums, plat communities, and cooperatives — created on or after July 1, 2018.^4,8 The Washington Condominium Act, RCW 64.34, governs condominiums created between July 1, 1990 and June 30, 2018.⁶ The Homeowners' Associations Act, RCW 64.38, governs planned-community, non-condominium, associations created before July 1, 2018.¹ The Horizontal Property Regimes Act, RCW 64.32, governs condominiums created before July 1, 1990.⁶

A defined set of WUCIOA provisions also reaches communities created before July 1, 2018. RCW 64.90.365 lists those provisions, including RCW 64.90.370, RCW 64.90.405(1)(b) and (c), RCW 64.90.525, and RCW 64.90.545, and states that inconsistent provisions of the earlier acts don't apply; the solar provision isn't on that list.⁵ A preexisting community may also elect to be governed by WUCIOA by amending its declaration under RCW 64.90.370.⁹ The framework is consolidating: under ESSB 5796, Chapter 321, Laws of 2024, nicknamed "WUCIOA For All," WUCIOA applies to common interest communities created before July 1, 2018 beginning January 1, 2028, and the earlier acts, RCW 64.32, RCW 64.34, and RCW 64.38, are repealed effective that date.¹⁰ Because Washington adopted WUCIOA from the uniform act, it stands as a UCIOA state through RCW 64.90.⁴ The practical consequence is that a manager or board must first determine which act governs a community before applying any solar rule, because the source and text of the applicable limit differ across the four statutes. All citations here are Revised Code of Washington citations; no other state's community-association framework applies.

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

Under both solar provisions, an association may adopt reasonable restrictions but may not prohibit a qualifying installation. RCW 64.38.055 permits governing documents to prohibit visibility of a roof-mounted panel above the roof line, to condition street-facing roof panels on conforming to the roof slope with the top edge parallel to the ridge, to require frames and visible wiring to be painted to coordinate with the roofing, to require shielding of a ground-mounted panel where shielding doesn't degrade performance by more than ten percent, and to require indemnification for loss or damage; it also permits "other reasonable rules regarding the placement and manner of a solar energy panel."¹ RCW 64.90.510 contains parallel authority for WUCIOA communities.² Neither provision sets a general numeric cost or efficiency threshold; the only numeric figure is the ten percent shielding limit for ground-mounted panels.¹ Within its scope, the solar provision overrides conflicting governing-document terms: under RCW 64.38.055 an inconsistent recorded provision is void and unenforceable, and under WUCIOA the governing documents generally may not vary rights the chapter confers.² Architectural and design review survives as the vehicle for applying the permitted reasonable rules, and its scope differs by community type and by which of the four statutes governs.

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

A. Determining the governing act and approval

A manager must first determine which of the four statutes governs the community, because the applicable solar provision and its enforceability depend on community type and creation date; the choice is between RCW 64.90.510, WUCIOA, post-July 1, 2018, RCW 64.38.055, pre-2018 planned-community HOAs, and the condominium acts, which contain no express solar provision.⁵ Once the act is identified, a qualifying installation gets reviewed under that provision together with the governing documents' architectural process, which may apply the reasonable placement and manner rules the statute allows.¹

B. Permissible and impermissible restrictions

An association may not prohibit a qualifying solar energy panel, the operative bar in both RCW 64.38.055 and RCW 64.90.510.² It may adopt reasonable rules on roofline visibility, slope conformance for street-facing arrays, painting of frames and wiring, ground-mount shielding not exceeding a ten percent performance loss, and indemnification.¹ The reach differs by statute: the WUCIOA limit is mandatory for post-2018 communities, the Homeowners' Associations Act limit is mandatory and retroactive for pre-2018 planned communities, and pre-2018 condominiums have no express statutory solar right pending the 2028 transition.⁵

C. Governing-document and disclosure considerations

Solar rules appear in and get amended within the declaration, bylaws, and rules under the applicable act, and any rule that prohibits a qualifying installation is unenforceable within the provision's scope.¹ Under WUCIOA, a preexisting community may amend its declaration to opt into RCW 64.90, and thereby the WUCIOA solar provision, under RCW 64.90.370.⁹ WUCIOA also imposes standardized resale certificate disclosures for covered communities under RCW 64.90.640, with 26 statutory disclosure items, delivery within 10 days, a $275 initial fee cap, $100 for updates within six months, and a 5-day buyer cancellation right after first receipt; that certificate stands as the mechanism through which solar-related governing-document terms surface on resale.¹¹

D. Dispute resolution and remedies

Trial-level solar disputes proceed through the Washington Superior Courts, with appeals to the Washington Court of Appeals, organized in three divisions, and discretionary review by the Washington Supreme Court. Enforcement runs through the courts rather than a dedicated state HOA regulator: the Homeowners' Associations Act allows a court to award reasonable attorneys' fees to the prevailing party in an appropriate case, RCW 64.38.050, and WUCIOA authorizes an action to enforce a right or obligation with a discretionary award of reasonable attorneys' fees and costs and permits alternative dispute resolution, RCW 64.90.685.^12,13

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

HB 2296 (2025-26), "Distributed energy resources," Chapter 136, Laws of 2026, would have legalized plug-in solar devices and barred association bans on them, but the association provisions were stripped before enactment.

No other bill enacted in the past 24 months amended RCW 64.38.055 or RCW 64.90.510 or otherwise changed an association's authority over solar installations. The one structural change already on the books is the January 1, 2028 repeal of the legacy acts under ESSB 5796, which will make RCW 64.90.510 the single solar provision for all communities.¹⁰

B. Recent appellate rulings

No published or unpublished Washington appellate decision, Court of Appeals Divisions I, II, or III, or the Washington Supreme Court, has interpreted RCW 64.38.055 or RCW 64.90.510 as those provisions bear on association solar authority. There is no solar-specific appellate case to report in the relevant window.

C. Active legislative debates

Advocates expect a standalone plug-in solar bill, reviving the HB 2296 language that would bar association and landlord bans on small plug-in devices, to be reintroduced in the 2027 session.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 — 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, and Texas Property Code section 202.010; solar-easement-only states, which enable voluntary easements but don't override associations; and no-protection states, where the declaration controls. Washington belongs in the first category, because RCW 64.38.055 and RCW 64.90.510 bar association prohibition of qualifying installations while allowing reasonable restrictions.² Washington's distinctive feature is a four-statute layered framework, with WUCIOA as the modern UCIOA-based act that is consolidating the others by 2028. For multi-state operators, the practical implication is that a Washington portfolio requires a per-community statute determination before any solar policy is applied uniformly.

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

Footnotes

1. RCW 64.38.055, Governing documents — Solar panels (Homeowners' Associations Act) ↩
2. RCW 64.90.510, Regulatory authority — Limitations — Governing documents (WUCIOA) ↩
3. Chapter 80.60 RCW, Net metering of electricity ↩
4. RCW 64.90.360, Common interest communities (applicability of WUCIOA) ↩
5. RCW 64.90.365, Common interest communities — Exceptions ↩
6. Chapter 64.34 RCW, Condominium Act (scope; pre-1990 condominiums under Chapter 64.32 RCW) ↩
7. RCW 64.04.140, Legislative declaration — Solar energy systems — Solar easements authorized ↩
8. Chapter 64.90 RCW, Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act ↩
9. RCW 64.90.370, Election of preexisting common interest communities ↩
10. Chapter 64.38 RCW dispositions (repealed by 2024 c 321, effective January 1, 2028) ↩
11. RCW 64.90.640, Resale certificate (WUCIOA disclosure and cancellation rights) ↩
12. RCW 64.38.050, Violation — Remedy — Attorneys' fees ↩
13. RCW 64.90.685, Action to enforce right — Attorneys' fees and costs — Alternative dispute resolution ↩
14. HB 2296 (2025-26), Distributed energy resources, Chapter 136, Laws of 2026 ↩