Abilene, TX Solar Energy: HOA Restrictions (2026)

010 of the Texas Property Code applies to every property owners' association governing an Abilene subdivision under a recorded dedicatory instrument. Subsection (b) makes it unlawful for the association to include or enforce a covenant that prohibits or restricts a homeowner from installing a solar energy device, and subsection (c) declares any such provision void as a matter of law, meaning the HOA cannot enforce it even if it is still printed in the recorded restrictions. 107 and, after a 2025 amendment, expressly includes solar roof tiles alongside conventional rooftop panels.

Subsection (d) lists the only restrictions an Abilene association can still enforce: it can bar a device a court has found threatens public health or safety or violates law, ban placement on HOA-owned common property, and control siting on the homeowner's own lot, limiting mounting to the roof of an allowed structure or a fenced yard or patio the owner maintains. Roof-mounted panels can be pushed into an HOA-designated spot unless an alternate location would raise the device's modeled annual energy output by more than 10 percent using a National Renewable Energy Laboratory tool, and any frame, support bracket, or visible piping or wiring must be silver, bronze, or black.

Panels placed in a fenced yard cannot rise above the fence line, and the association can require prior written approval from its architectural review committee. Subsection (e) forbids withholding that approval once a proposed installation meets those design rules unless the board finds in writing that the placement will substantially interfere with a neighbor's use and enjoyment of their property; written sign-off from adjoining owners counts as proof no such interference exists. Subsection (f) lets a declarant restrict solar devices during the development period for a project smaller than 51 planned residential units.