Franklin, TN Solar Energy: HOA Restrictions (2026)

Unlike states with explicit HOA-override solar rights statutes (Florida Fla. Stat. 163.04, California Civ. Code 714, Texas Prop. Code 202.010, Colorado C.R.S. 38-30-168, Arizona A.R.S. 33-1816), Tennessee has not enacted a statute that voids HOA prohibitions on residential rooftop solar. The only Tennessee solar-property statute is the Solar Access Law of 1979, codified at T.C.A. 66-9-201 through 66-9-208, which authorizes solar easements ONLY by voluntary written agreement between adjoining property owners (with the easement subject to recordation and the standard rules for real-property easements). The Solar Access Law does NOT preempt CC&Rs, architectural review committees, or HOA assessment-and-fine machinery. T.C.A. 66-9-207 (Solar power facility agreements) and related provisions amended through 2024 deal with utility-scale solar facility decommissioning agreements, not HOA-residential-rooftop disputes. As a result, an HOA in Franklin can lawfully prohibit, restrict, or condition residential solar PV through its recorded CC&Rs and ARC approvals, and that prohibition is enforceable in Williamson County Chancery or Circuit Court under standard Tennessee covenant-enforcement law. Tennessee HOA governance generally runs through the Tennessee Nonprofit Corporation Act (T.C.A. Title 48 Chapter 51 et seq.) for the entity, and through the recorded declaration and rules for the property regime. Practical guidance for Franklin homeowners in an HOA: read the CC&Rs and architectural guidelines BEFORE signing a solar contract; submit the design (panel color, location, conduit routing, ground-mount setbacks) to the ARC in writing; preserve all correspondence; and budget for the possibility of denial or aesthetic conditions (rear-roof-only placement, dark-frame modules, matching-roof color, screening for ground mounts). Solar contracts should include a contingency clause for HOA approval. Several Tennessee HOA-solar bills (including iterations in the 113th and 114th General Assemblies) have been introduced but none has passed into law as of 2026.