A surprise twist (or two)!

We knew going in that this was going to be a difficult process, but we faced resistance from an unexpected place: the home owners association.

The meeting did not go as well as we'd hoped. We met with three members of the board one evening to request approval. Approvals for easy stuff, like mending fences, painting your house with an approved color and the like, can be granted on the spot. We were hoping to get such an approval. After all, in our case the panels will be mounted flat to the southern side of our roof, and would be no more of an eyesore than a satellite dish. Of course, that's a matter of opinion.

The board was kind and gracious, but had obvious concerns about setting precedents with quick approvals. They asked several times if the system would be visible from the street. Without doubt, folks driving north on our street will see the panels. We disclosed that yes, they would be visible from one side of the home. This appeared to be unacceptable to one board member who made facial expressions that couldn't be missed. We reassured them that the panels would be flat on the roof, black on black, and mounted very close to one another in an orderly and attractive way.

The next concern was how far away from the roof they would be. Apparently, the closer the better. Next, "would there be any exposed wiring or conduit" (an appropriate concern for sure). No, there will not be. "How about the pitch of your roof? Is it flat so they are less visible?" No, The roof is rather steep, which makes it perfect for the panels, but more visible. "Could you put the panels in the back?" I would not be able to afford the expense of rigging the panels to face south if we were going to mount them on the east facing part of our roof (in the back). Plus, mounting them in the rear would mean we couldn't mount them flush to the roof.

This went on for some time. One board member, who may have been sympathetic, said, "Well, what about the other home we approved for panels on the side?" This was the bone we needed! If they'd approved panels before, how could they say no to us? The answer came from the more apprehensive member, "Well, that house had a much flatter roof, and it was a two story home."

I really couldn't believe that this wasn't just a formality. Could they really keep me from installing panels? I hoped I wouldn't find out, but it sure seemed like they were certain about their power. Jeff from the company rep chimed in, "Here are some pictures of our previous installations, and as you can see, they are very flat to the roof." He also seemed surprised, and it appeared like he was really trying to jump in a provide some reassurance to the board.

After more questioning from them and re-assurance from us, they began to politely shoo us off. Before standing to leave, I reiterated how important this was to my family, and shared why we we're trying to do this. Two of them seemed to care, but the other had his 'so what' face on.

Jeff talked with me for about 20 minutes outside, telling about some laws in Texas that may prevent HOA's from standing between home owners and solar in the future. We say, the sooner the better.

We were frustrated. After wrangling up a loan, listening to some very smooth sales people, and crunching numbers like crazy to make it work, it really was going to come down to the decision of a Home Owners Board.

Our hackles were up and we were getting ready for a fight. In our previous neighborhood, we'd been to war with our HOA over painting the front door, but that seemed like nothing compared to this. If we'd done what we could to make sure it was a good thing for our home without disturbing the aesthetics of the neighborhood, how could they say no?

Long story short: they didn't say no! It was approved with stipulations. The panels have to be very close to the roof, and baffles must be installed to prevent folks from seeing between the panels and the roof.

With all the insanity we see from those with power these days, it was nice to see some pragmatic thinking.

We had a mini-celebration... The coming Tuesday we were supposed to close. Remember that the refinancing of our second loan is a very important part of making this work from a numbers perspective. On Monday evening, the bank called and said that they couldn't do it. They said they couldn't see the second loan on our title. Turns out, there was a paperwork error when we refinanced our first mortgage. We were stressed again?

Could it be fixed? Was this what was going to deep six everything we'd been through? Nope. VantagePoint did our first refinance. The second we made them aware of the problem, they sprang into action. As of today, they claim everything is now corrected. We're just waiting on the bank's Lawyers and the new title company to give us the OK to schedule another closing.

We'll keep you posted!