new house block my solar panel...

is there anything i can do about it?

the company that's building the new houses did a shade study for their plan, and by 9am in winter time, the new 3 story house would still be blocking the sun completely.

i plan on going to the city meeting next week, but unsure if there are anything i can do other than voice my concerns.

(mountain view, ca)

thanks.

dyyuan said:

is there anything i can do about it?

the company that's building the new houses did a shade study for their plan, and by 9am in winter time, the new 3 story house would still be blocking the sun completely.

i plan on going to the city meeting next week, but unsure if there are anything i can do other than voice my concerns.

(mountain view, ca)

thanks.

Click to expand...

Oh that sucks! It will probably be much less of a problem in the summer, when the sun is much higher, which is also when you generate the most of your annual solar energy anyway. Do you have an estimate for how much it will eat into your annual production? Maybe you could ask the builder for compensation.

Is this one of the new infill developments near downtown? (I'm also in MV)

What a drag. Sorry you have to deal with this.

PV on the roof, or ground mount? Does MV have a shade bylaw in the code? If so, what options might it give you to object? Whatever the loss amount, you will definately be suffering a loss attributable to the new building. You may need a lawyer.

dyyuan said:

is there anything i can do about it?

the company that's building the new houses did a shade study for their plan, and by 9am in winter time, the new 3 story house would still be blocking the sun completely.

i plan on going to the city meeting next week, but unsure if there are anything i can do other than voice my concerns.

(mountain view, ca)

thanks.

Click to expand...

Do a search on the web for "Air Rights", also, there are court cases which back up the right of a person owning real property to have unrestricted views for purposes of solar power, Solar Insolation (heating) and so forth. I'll have my Legal Assistant do a search on WestLaw, so you can have some documentation. There may end up being a compromise solution, depending upon how political the city meeting politicians are ... if you can demonstrate that your reception of the solar output will be restricted, they may want to know "how much" and "how will it effect your overall Solar Power production". Be calm, determined and polite. Always better to have other solar power folks there to give their opinions and statements. There is controversy over the area of the law, just as there are with Riparian Rights, including flood zones, etc. I'll get back to you here. You might mention the political makeup of the city council, Liberals versus Conservatives and their past positions on Environmental Issue (if any). Remember that politics trumps everything, just like a Royal Flush in Poker.

Here is a good place to start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_rights" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; although talking about "air Rights" with respect to airplane overflights

Here is another case: United States v. Causby 328 U.S. 256 Although this was about a Wack-Job named Causby who didn't like "them damned flying machines over my Property!" The Supremes tossed this case out with an admonition that Cuius est solum eius est usque_ad coelum et ad inferos (You own the property from the earth to the heavens) was no longer valid; ironically it was Douglas, J> -- a far-left Liberal (and presumably on the side of "the Little Guy") -- who wrote the decision which basically stated that the concept was "outmoded".

Good Luck.

Thanks for all the responses.

the site is in MV by whisman and evandale, right by the old nokia / new google buildings.
the panels are roof mounted on the 2nd floor.

I've asked my solar rep who installed this for me 4 years ago, and his reply was "no legal recourse".

From what i hear, the meeting next week is called the DRC, which is run by a city staff member, then once it gets approved, it goes to the city council, where they usually rubber stamp whatever the DRC passed.

there are some laws i've seen, but it's mainly for trees / branches that grow to block neighbor's solar panel.

I can look up my pass power generation and figure out how much power i'd lost, but without a real shade study, it will be a bit tough (they only gave us 9am, 12pm, 3pm on winter and summer).

I am basically going to the meeting and "beg" the city staff member who runs the DRC, asking him even if there are no actual law to prevent this, but to act on the interest of MV being "pro green".

dyyuan said:

is there anything i can do about it?

the company that's building the new houses did a shade study for their plan, and by 9am in winter time, the new 3 story house would still be blocking the sun completely.

i plan on going to the city meeting next week, but unsure if there are anything i can do other than voice my concerns.

(mountain view, ca)

thanks.

Click to expand...

You're in luck. The California Legislature passed the Solar Rights Act in 1978. See:

http://www.gosolarcalifornia.ca.gov/solar_basics/rights.php

I am not sure if those laws would apply to structures.

called the contact number on the website, and they refer me to the law school at University of san diego. i left a message for the guy who wrote all these initiatives and see if he calls back : )

http://www.sandiego.edu/law/centers/epic/about/bio.php?ID=1050" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also did an estimate for possible solar loss at about 1.83kwh during winter solstice.

oakwcj said:

dyyuan said:

is there anything i can do about it?

the company that's building the new houses did a shade study for their plan, and by 9am in winter time, the new 3 story house would still be blocking the sun completely.

i plan on going to the city meeting next week, but unsure if there are anything i can do other than voice my concerns.

(mountain view, ca)

thanks.

Click to expand...

You're in luck. The California Legislature passed the Solar Rights Act in 1978. See:

http://www.gosolarcalifornia.ca.gov/solar_basics/rights.php

Click to expand...

dyyuan said:

Also did an estimate for possible solar loss at about 1.83kwh during winter solstice.

Click to expand...

Is that per day or total annual loss? IF not annual loss, what do you peg the annualized loss at? How is that in terms of your total annual production?

dyyuan said:

there are some laws i've seen, but it's mainly for trees / branches that grow to block neighbor's solar panel.

Click to expand...

I'm sorry about your situation, I don't really have anything to add, but this line makes me shake my head. So put another way, there are laws protecting you from something that grows naturally, but not from something which people have built themselves? What a twisted world in which we live.

that's just one day.
without a more detailed shade study, it'll be very difficult to estimate.

that being said, if we assume 1.83kwh lost * 180 winter days and about 4kwh lost * 180 summer days, it'd be about 1050kwh lost a year.
1050 * .22 (pge off peak rate) = $231 a year

i think i am over-estimating the lost during winter, but under-estimate the lost during summer, so maybe this balance out.

Slow1 said:

dyyuan said:

Also did an estimate for possible solar loss at about 1.83kwh during winter solstice.

Click to expand...

Is that per day or total annual loss? IF not annual loss, what do you peg the annualized loss at? How is that in terms of your total annual production?

Click to expand...

dyyuan said:

that being said, if we assume 1.83kwh lost * 180 winter days and about 4kwh lost * 180 summer days, it'd be about 1050kwh lost a year.

Click to expand...

Summer loss should be less than winter, because the sun is higher in the sky.

Cheers, Wayne

I was going off my historical data, and seems during summer time, i start getting power as early as 6am.
the developer has not made or showed a shade study for what it'd look like during 6-9am for summer time.
the 9am shade study for summer they did show, looks like the shadows just barely clear my roof, hence the estimate...

on the other hand, the guy from university of san diego wrote me back!
said someone will contact me form their office, i hope to hear back soon.

wwhitney said:

dyyuan said:

that being said, if we assume 1.83kwh lost * 180 winter days and about 4kwh lost * 180 summer days, it'd be about 1050kwh lost a year.

Click to expand...

Summer loss should be less than winter, because the sun is higher in the sky.

Cheers, Wayne

Click to expand...

dyyuan said:

I was going off my historical data, and seems during summer time, i start getting power as early as 6am.

Click to expand...

The system might wake up at 6 am but how much power does it really generate between 6 and 9 am? Then depending on the obstruction it's not going to completely block all of the sun so even then it would be partial blocking. A proper solar path analysis would be able to calculate the total loss.

looks like the developer changed their plan pretty dramatically.

instead of 32 units, they now have only 27, and will have 4 two story single family house near us instead of 3 stories.

it was a combination of neighborhood input and the design committee's feedback...we were all very surprised this happened so quickly and how much change they made.

thanks all.