While your property borders may look like a clean lot in an organized neighborhood, there are rules called easements that complicate that idea. The way you get commonly get power from the grid or natural gas from a utility company requires these easements for protection.
Easements are allowances for someone else’s property to pass through yours. This might be a shared driveway that leads to a house through another lot. In the above utility example, it applies to underground pipes and wires. They run through your property, but you do not have the right to tamper with them without clear permission.
Solar easements and owning the right to sunbeams
You rely on the sun to help power your home at key times of the day when you have a solar system. You also rely on key angles above and around your house to gather that solar energy.
As Cleanenergyauthority.com clarifies, Indiana has no preestablished protections on sunlight. However, you may enter into a voluntary easement agreement to help protect your solar energy production and preserve the value that the system adds to your home.
Solar easement agreements with your neighbors
It might sound strange to ask your neighbors to avoid blocking your sunbeams. However, a solar system that generates suboptimal power because of recently planted trees or other light-blocking installations may harm your investment.
When it comes to establishing solar easements, it is important to do so in a clear manner with even clearer contracts. There are resources available to help you navigate the strange idea of owning the rights to your sunlight, but protecting it today may help preserve your power generation tomorrow.
