One Florida homeowner was frustrated with their homeowners association when the organization stopped providing a free pressure cleaning service on the roofs of houses with solar panels.
"My HOA's new policy with solar panels: Petty or [protecting] themselves?" they asked on an anti-HOA subreddit. " This doesn't personally affect me but it does others."
"My HOA under state law cannot deny someone solar panels if a homeowner wants them," they wrote. "They can't even deny where to put them; I have seen a couple that have them installed facing the front, not the back."
They explained, "This was after a Florida couple sued because the HOA demanded them be installed in the back of the home and every solar company said they would be useless there (Was obviously a tactic to discourage them from being installed)."
That's great news for Florida homeowners, because solar panels are one of the best ways to reduce your power bill, sometimes bringing it down to zero. They also reduce the amount of planet-heating pollution produced by your home's energy usage. If you're interested in installing your own, you should check out EnergySage's online marketplace for quotes.
While the original poster's HOA couldn't prevent homeowners from installing solar panels, the OP wondered if the refusal of the free cleaning service was meant to serve as discouragement.
"My HOA also has free yearly roof pressure cleaning because the city I live in [is strict on] dirty roofs," said the original poster. "Recently, the HOA sent us a letter saying that if you installed solar panels they will not be doing the free yearly roof cleaning on your house, if you want it done hire your own company and pay for it yourself."
They continued, "Is this them just being petty due to not being able to deny solar installs or is it due to so much distrust in the company they hired to do the pressure cleaning that they are afraid of liability?"
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Unfortunately, in this case, commenters sided with the HOA.
"Not being petty — eliminating the risk associated with working around personal private property," said one user. "The HOA does not own your solar panels, you do, therefore if they hire someone to clean the roof and they damage your solar panels, the HOA is on the hook to repair/replace."
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The upfront cost 💰 It's possible residents could get some traction by trying to change the HOA's rules, but the better option may be to hire a private company or perform the cleaning themselves.
However, it's likely that the savings on electricity are still greater than the price of a pressure washing service, since solar can bring your home energy costs to or near $0.
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