As Go Solar California explains: “The California Solar Rights Act was created in 1978 (AB 3250, 1978), and it created a legal framework for solar access. The law includes protections to allow consumers access to sunlight (and prevent shading of systems) and to limit the ability of
homeowner associations (HOA) and local governments from preventing installation of solar energy systems.
The Solar Rights Act sought to promote and encourage the widespread use of solar energy and to ‘protect and facilitate adequate access to the sunlight which is necessary to operate solar energy systems.'”