Governor Parson signs Senate Bill 820 allowing all Missourians to build rooftop solar

Jefferson City- Governor Mike Parson signed legislation to guarantee Missourians who live in Homeowners Associations (HOAs) the right to install solar panels on the roofs of their homes. The bill, SB 820, also formed a task force to commission a Value of Solar (VOS) study. 

Rooftop solar, especially when coupled with energy storage, can help Missourians overcome extreme weather. Despite the benefits of rooftop solar, several HOAs had prohibited their members from putting solar panels on their rooftops. That practice would now be illegal. 

Environment America, the national federation that Environment Missouri is part of, released a report in 2019 entitled the True Value of Solar. The report found that many value-of-solar studies have left out key benefits of solar energy and provides guidance for key things to look for when it comes to Value of Solar studies. 

Environment Missouri testified in favor of SB 745. 

In response Environment Missouri’s State Director Bridget Sanderson issued the following statement: 

It’s great news that pro-solar policy is moving forward in Missouri. Rooftop solar offers to bring many environmental and public health benefits to Missouri. The sooner we put our rooftops to work harvesting the power of the sun, the sooner we’ll reap cleaner air and a more stable climate for our kids to grow up in. Under this new law, any homeowner who lives in a Homeowners Association, who wants to go solar, can. Missouri has the technical potential to produce 73 times as much electricity from the sun as was used in the state in 2020.  As a result of this new law, I am looking forward to seeing solar panels pop up in even more Missouri neighborhoods.

As the Value of Solar task force gets underway, task force members should ensure that the Value of Solar study they commission incorporates the environmental and public health benefits of rooftop solar in addition to other factors.

Too many utility-led solar studies have ignored environmental and health benefits of local clean energy, resulting in solar being undervalued. Getting our power from the sun instead of fossil fuels means less pollution and cleaner air. Any mother who has woken up at 4am to guide their child through a pollution-induced asthma attack can speak to the immense value of having less asthma-triggering pollution in the air our kids breathe.