Rebates

Wisconsin has several laws that protect a resident's right to install and operate a solar or wind energy system. These laws cover zoning restrictions by local governments, private land use restrictions, and system owner rights to unobstructed access to resources. Wisconsin permitting rules and model policy for small wind can be found here. The state's original laws, enacted in 1982, have subsequently been amended and expanded numerous times.

Limitations on local zoning restrictions

First, Wis. Stat. § 60.61 specifically authorizes towns to enact zoning ordinances to provide “adequate access to sunlight for solar collectors and to wind for wind

Utah's solar easement provision is similar to easement provisions in many other states. Parties may voluntarily enter into written solar easement contracts that are enforceable by law. An easement must be created in writing and filed, duly recorded, and indexed in the office of the recorder of the county in which the easement is granted. A solar easement, once created, runs with the land and does not terminate unless specified by conditions of the easement.

Any deed, will or other instrument that creates a solar easement must include:

• A description of the affected properties
• A spatial description of the solar

New York's real property laws allow for the creation of solar easements. Like those in many other states, these are voluntary contracts which must be entered into in order to ensure uninterrupted solar access for solar energy devices. Solar easement agreements are required at a minimum to contain information describing the easement location and orientation to real property subject to the easement, provisions for termination, and provisions for compensation in the event that interference occurs.

The New York General City, Town, and Village codes also allow local zoning districts to make regulations regarding solar access that provide for "the accommodation

Note (January 2025): 

Pursuant to the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard Amendment Act of 2024 (D.C. Law 25-217), effective January 1, 2025, the Commission is decertifying any SREC-Certified solar energy system not located within the District or in a location served by a distribution feeder serving the District that was certified prior to February 1, 2011. Any facility decertified pursuant to the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard Amendment Act of 2024 will remain eligible to be re-certified to produce Tier One Renewable Energy Credits applicable to the non-solar portion of the RPS. Please refer to DC Public Service Commission Docket FC1181, Order

Minnesota law provides for the creation of solar and wind easements for solar and wind-energy systems. As in many other states, these easements are voluntary contracts. However, unlike similar provisions in other states, Minnesota law specifically provides for wind easements in addition to solar easements. For tax purposes, an easement imposed on a property may decrease the property value, but an easement which benefits a property may not add value to that property.

Solar and Wind Easements must be created in writing and shall be filed, duly recorded, and indexed in the office of the recorder of the county in

Zoning ordinances or by-laws may encourage the use of solar energy systems and protect solar access by regulation of the orientation of streets, lots and buildings, maximum building height limits, minimum building set back requirements, limitations on the type, height and placement of vegetation and other provisions. Zoning ordinances or by-laws may also establish buffer zones and additional districts that protect solar access which overlap existing zoning districts. Zoning ordinances or by-laws may further regulate the planting and trimming of vegetation on public property to protect the solar access of private and public solar energy systems and buildings. Solar energy

Solar Standards

The purpose of Eugene's Solar Standards, as described in sections 9.2780 through 9.2795 of the City of Eugene's City Code, is to create lot divisions, layouts and building configurations to help preserve the availability of solar energy to one- and two-family dwellings. The goal is to promote the use of solar energy and to minimize shading of buildings by other buildings.

Solar Lot Standards

Solar lot standards apply to the creation of lots within subdivisions in R-1 and R-2 zones. In these zones, at least 70% of the lots in a subdivision must be designed as "solar lots"

California’s solar access laws appear in the state’s Civil, Government, Health and Safety, and Public Resources Codes. California’s Civil Code (801.5) ensures that neighbors may voluntarily sign solar easements to ensure that proper sunlight is available to those who operate solar energy systems. California’s Government Code (65850.5) provides that subdivisions may include solar easements applicable to all plots within the subdivision in their plans. California’s Public Resources Code (25980) contains the Solar Shade Control Act, which encourages the use of trees and other natural shading except in cases where the shading may interfere with the use of active and passive

Brief

Montana's solar and wind easement provisions allow property owners to create solar and wind easements for the purpose of protecting and maintaining proper access to sunlight and wind. Solar easements should be negotiated with neighboring property owners. Montana's solar easement law was enacted in 1979; the wind easement law was originally enacted in 1983.

Solar Easements:

An easement must be created in writing and is subject to the same conveyancing and instrument recording requirements as other easements on real property. The easement must specify at least (1) the vertical and horizontal angles, expressed in degrees, at which the solar

The City of Ashland has been promoting the use of solar energy since 1981, when it passed one of the first city-wide solar access protection ordinances in the United States. This ordinance contains solar setback provisions designed to ensure that shadows at the northern property line do not exceed a certain height, depending on the zone in which the property is located.

Ashland also includes Solar Orientation Standards for land divisions that create lots in residential zones. The requirements being (A) Where the site and location permit, layout new streets as close as possible to a north-south and east-west axis