California bill SB1399 was signed into law 7/24/08 by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The bill takes effect January 1, 2009. SB1399 amends the 1979 Solar Shade Control Act by making disputes over trees and shrubs that cast shade on a neighbor’s solar panels civil matters rather than crimes. Trees planted before solar installations are exempt.
The law was prompted by a Sunnyvale, California couple who ordered to top their redwood trees to allow sunlight to fall on their neighbors’ solar panels.
Read the specifics of BILL NUMBER: SB 1399.
hmmm – this is a tough one. I actually see both neighbors as right – not really fair to either person – but if the neighbor could have put the panels on another part of the house then he should have never bothered the other neighbor who has a right to their own landscaping. However, the question would really be complicated by the “hypothetical” homeowner who wants to put up panels but has nowhere else to put them…then the answer is not so simple…