A Summerville resident has been denied permission from her homeowners association to erect solar panels on her house, but she plans to put them up anyway.
When she bought her Victoria Pointe house, Stephanie Bernard, a married mother of two, said she knew she wanted it to be energy-efficient. She looked into other solar installation companies until she found the right fit for her. She is expecting to save $600 per year on her utility bills with solar power; Sunrun is providing the solar panels and LGCY Power is the power plant.
However, Bernard has hit a wall with her homeowners association, which has denied her request to install the panels.
“They said ‘no’ based on their personal feelings of the aesthetics of it and that it would devalue our neighborhood.
“My goal is not to bash the HOAs,” she said. “HOAs are here for a purpose. …But the board members are volunteers who are supposed to be here for the community.”
Bernard is still attempting to change their minds but is nonetheless planning to move forward with the installation. She said there are other neighbors in her subdivision interested in solar power as well.
Victoria Pointe’s management company, Gold Crown, declined to comment.
Bernard said she was hoping to meet with the Victoria Pointe board of directors and make her case that her solar panels will not devalue the neighborhood, but said she learned last week that she was denied a meeting. Bernard attended a board of directors meeting April 18; she said the issue was not resolved and that she was told she can keep submitting her application, but she said she is being told “no” to front-facing solar panels, which she plans to install on her house.
Bernard provided The Summerville Journal Scene with a copy of a letter she said she got from the Victoria Pointe board of directors that included a solar panel guideline for homeowners.
Among the listed guidelines, all plans must be pre-approved by the Architectural Control Committee; panels need to be on a side and rear-facing, roof-mounted array; and the highest point of a solar panel array will be lower than the ridge of the roof where it is attached, among other listed items.
“In order to ensure that property owners have the freedom to employ alternative energy solutions if desired, solar collectors may be placed on a dwelling or in the back or side yard of the property, located in such a way as not to obstruct windows of adjacent homes,” the by-law covenant language reads.
Bernard plans on installing a total of 29 panels, assembled on the front and back of the very top roof of her house. Six panels slated to go on the front side of the roof could be moved to the back part, but Bernard said that is where her house receives the most sun, and she would lose solar intake. The panels are coming in a few months, and Bernard said she has already gone through permitting.
Bernard said she is hoping to educate others and show the benefits of solar power.
“It goes way bigger than just their opinions,” she said.
