2007 California Public Resources Code Chapter 12. Solar Shade Control

CA Codes (prc:25980-25986)

25980.  This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Solar
Shade Control Act.  It is the policy of the state to promote all
feasible means of energy conservation and all feasible uses of
alternative energy supply sources.  In particular, the state
encourages the planting and maintenance of trees and shrubs to create
shading, moderate outdoor temperatures, and provide various economic
and aesthetic benefits.  However, there are certain situations in
which the need for widespread use of alternative energy devices, such
as solar collectors, requires specific and limited controls on trees
and shrubs.


25981.  As used in this chapter, "solar collector" means a fixed
device, structure, or part of a device or structure, which is used
primarily to transform solar energy into thermal, chemical, or
electrical energy.  The solar collector shall be used as part of a
system which makes use of solar energy for any or all of the
following purposes:  (1) water heating, (2) space heating or cooling,
and (3) power generation.



25982.  After January 1, 1979, no person owning, or in control of a
property shall allow a tree or shrub to be placed, or, if placed, to
grow on such property, subsequent to the installation of a solar
collector on the property of another so as to cast a shadow greater
than 10 percent of the collector absorption area upon that solar
collector surface on the property of another at any one time between
the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., local standard time; provided, that
this section shall not apply to specific trees and shrubs which at
the time of installation of a solar collector or during the remainder
of that annual solar cycle cast a shadow upon that solar collector.
For the purposes of this chapter, the location of a solar collector
is required to comply with the local building and setback
regulations, and to be set back not less than five feet from the
property line, and no less than 10 feet above the ground.  A
collector may be less than 10 feet in height, only if in addition to
the five feet setback, the collector is set back three times the
amount lowered.



25983.  Every person who maintains any tree or shrub or permits any
tree or shrub to be maintained in violation of Section 25982 upon
property owned by such person and every person leasing the property
of another who maintains any tree or shrub or permits any tree or
shrub to be maintained in violation of Section 25982 after reasonable
notice in writing from a district attorney or city attorney or
prosecuting attorney, to remove or alter the tree or shrub so that
there is no longer a violation of Section 25982, has been served upon
such person, is guilty of a public nuisance as defined in Sections
370 and 371 of the Penal Code and in Section 3480 of the Civil Code.
For the purposes of this chapter, a violation is hereby deemed an
infraction.  The complainant shall establish to the satisfaction of
the prosecutor that the violation has occurred prior to the
prosecutor's duty to issue the abatement notice.  For the purpose of
this section, "reasonable notice" means 30 days from receipt of such
notice. Upon expiration of the 30-day period, the complainant shall
file an affidavit with the prosecutor alleging that the nuisance has
not been abated if the complainant wishes to proceed with the action.
  The existence of such violation for each and every day after  the
service of such notice shall be deemed a separate and distinct
offense, and it is hereby made the duty of the district attorney, or
the city attorney of any city the charter of which imposes the duty
upon the city attorney to prosecute state infractions, to prosecute
all persons guilty of violating this section by continuous
prosecutions until the violation is corrected.  Each and every
violation of this section shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed
one thousand dollars (,000).



25984.  Nothing in this chapter shall apply to trees planted, grown,
or harvested on timberland as defined in Section 4526 or on land
devoted to the production of commercial agricultural crops. Nothing
in this chapter shall apply to the replacement of a tree or shrub
which had been growing prior to the installation of a solar collector
and which, subsequent to the installation of such solar collector,
dies.



25985.  Any city, or for unincorporated areas, any county, may
adopt, by majority vote of the governing body, an ordinance exempting
their jurisdiction from the provisions of this chapter.  The
adoption of such an ordinance shall not be subject to the provisions
of the California Environmental Quality Act (commencing with Section
21000).



25986.  Any person who plans a passive or natural solar heating
system or cooling system or heating and cooling system which would
impact on an adjacent active solar system may seek equitable relief
in a court of competent jurisdiction to exempt such system from the
provisions of this chapter.  The court may grant such an exemption
based on a finding that the passive or natural system would provide a
demonstrably greater net energy savings than the active system which
would be impacted.