Neighbor experiencing glare, wants me to remove panels or he will take legal action

[sunnyguy]

1. Find out if he has a case under private nuisance law. Less than an hour a day and a few panels sounds pretty minor. Of course this may vary with the sun's path in the sky throughout the year, so better figure out if he's going to complain about other panels in january. It may require quantitative measurements.

2. Find out the financial impact moving the panels would have on you both in cost to move and reduced efficiency.

Depending on what you learn, propose to move them if you are compensated fully or partially, or do nothing.

Lots of people are willing to casually threaten legal action, few are willing to go through with the formal process. If I thought he was a particularly aggressive litigious person I would get a lawyer involved right away and have all communication go through him.

Also you may consider whether a few degrees change in tilt would have any positive effect.

[Ian S]

Have you actually experienced the glare he's talking about? If not, I'd insist on having him actually demonstrate to you the effect. 45 minutes a day of reflection from a few panels doesn't sound like much of a nuisance to me. I agree with FFE: the problem may occur with other panels at other times of the year. As you describe it, he seems unwilling to explore any other possible solutions and just wants to take legal action right off the bat - his way or the highway. Sounds like a bit of a cranky old jerk to me.

[idnominal]

This sort of glare issue probably comes up a lot in cities when builders put up new glass covered skyscrapers. I bet you could find some examples by just googling. I doubt the high rise builders have any liability (just a guess). BTW 48 LG315 panels sounds excellent, congratulations!

I like the idea of trying to defuse the situation. However, if you really want to understand your legal position, it would probably take a visit to a local attorney experienced in such matters. (Also, ask your installer if they ever had to deal with a reflection / glare problem/complaint.)

I was curious about the same possible issue when I was thinking about an adjustable ground pole mount. My installation ended up being planned as covering the 20 degree roof with panels, so probably with the shallow slope, I will not have a reflection issue with neighbors (hopefully).

Are there any glare reducing treatments that do not adversely reduce output?

update ... hmm, WAY TOO much to find by googling, for example, google "legal problem glare solar panel", lots and lots to read, just on page 1!, such as:

RESIDENTIAL SOLAR PANEL USE IN CALIFORNIA AND IMPACTS UPON NEIGHBORS by Mark F. Miller

excerpt - Nuisance (Civ. Code, § 3479) is the “unreasonable interference with the use and enjoyment of the property of another.” One potential nuisance impact from PV panels is extreme glare. In certain alignments, mirror-surface solar panels may direct and concentrate reflected sunlight (and intense heat and glare) toward neighboring properties. In one well-publicized example, the mirrored convex surface of a London skyscraper concentrated sunlight into a “death ray” that melted the interior of a nearby parked Jaguar. A dearth of case law exists in California as to allowable levels of heat, light, glare and inconvenience that may be directed by PV panels to a neighbor’s property.

or, "Can we force our neighbor to move 4 solar panels" (from 2013).

Probably installers / owners here will have had some experience too with this glare/reflection problem.

[FFE]

That is quite the pickle. Keeping the neighbors happy is important. But, you did everything the right way. Maybe tell the neighbor you will plant some trees to block the glare.

One major thing to consider. If some of your panels cause glare this time of year, other panels will probably cause glare other times of the year. If you move panels based on the current situation you will be constantly moving panels for your neighbor. If you move the panels will the glare move to another neighbor? The glare from the windshield of my neighbor's truck shines in one of my windows sometimes during the year. I never considered asking them to not park their truck in their driveway.

[silversaver]

Without thinking of anything. Ask yourself if you see the same glare from your neighbor's house, how would you feel? What ever go around comes around.

You are in a HOA community so am I. That is why none of my neighbors putting solar panels on front facing roof regardless. The glare can also coming from your side roofs.

Since you ask, it is all about courtesy and try to accommodating to your neighbor.

[sandaboy]

I just had a reputable solar company in my area (California) install a system with 48 LG315 panels with enphase 280 microinverters about 2 weeks ago. My neighbor just mentioned to me that he sees high glare from about 5-8 panels for about 45 minutes per day. He expects me to have the panels relocated somewhere else on my roof so the glare goes away. The thing is that before the installation was done, the HOA approved the solar panel install plan and after the install the city approved the installation as well. I feel like we followed the rules and this byproduct of glare was kind of out of my control or forethought. I am not a solar expert. My neighbor doesn't want any other solution than me either removing the panels that cause the glare or relocating them somewhere else on my roof. He threatened legal action if I don't comply. My question is that am I really liable in this case for fixing this issue and the expense of it? If so what is the best way to proceed? Will it be very costly to relocate the panels on the roof if they are already in an array, would I have to submit the plan again to the HOA and get permission again and is the relocation procedure usually complicated? I paid a lot for the system I got and am scared it will be super expensive to modify the way it is set up. Just want some opinions on the best way to proceed with this. Thanks a lot for any help it is much appreciated!