Ready to chuck his electric bills, Camarillo, Calif., resident Marc Weinberg last year asked his homeowners association for permission to put solar panels on his roof.

When the Spanish Hills Homeowners Association said no, Weinberg sued the group. Under the state’s Solar Rights Act, he argued, a homeowners association can’t unreasonably block solar installations.

Weinberg won, and the homeowners association was ordered not only to permit the solar panels but to cover the tens of thousands of dollars that Weinberg spent on legal fees. Since last fall, when he installed a double row of matte black panels, three other homes in the hilltop neighborhood of luxury estates have added panels.

“We didn’t set out to be green activists,” said Weinberg, 39, a real estate attorney. “That’s not where we’re coming from. We honestly looked at it from a financial standpoint.”

Whether motivated by pocketbook or environmentalism, similar battles between homeowner groups and property owners are also cropping up in other states as the installation of solar energy systems becomes more affordable and utility costs rise.

Homeowners boards insist that they are protecting property values by enforcing rules that govern such things as paint color and how early trash bins can be set out for collection. But residents say their right to invest in alternative energy trumps the sensibilities of neighbors who don’t like the way the panels look.

Results of the battles have been mixed even as the nation is being urged by the Obama administration to embrace alternative energy.

Santa Clarita, Calif., homeowner Marty Griffin put solar panels up despite his homeowners association’s rejection of his application. The Tesoro Del Valle Homeowners Association sued him, and in early November a jury told Griffin the panels should be moved to a more discreet area of his property.

Solar installer Bradley Bartz this year threatened a Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., community group with legal action after it denied three clients permits to install solar panels. He filed a claim against the city of Torrance, Calif., after it rejected another client’s application. In all four cases, Bartz prevailed.

Homeowners’ main defense is the Solar Rights Act, adopted by California in 1978 to protect consumers’ right to install solar energy technology. The law makes it difficult for homeowner groups to reject solar energy equipment unless it creates a safety hazard or a modification can be made without great cost.

Now, solar advocates are pushing for a federal version of the California law. Energy legislation that moved through the U.S. House this year included a provision that would make it illegal for homeowners association rules, leases or private contracts to prohibit the installation of solar systems.

It’s uncertain whether the Senate will keep the provision in its version of the bill, said Raymond Walker, a government-affairs spokesman for Standard Renewable Energy, a Houston-based solar installer. As debate continues, solar industry advocates are forming a lobbying group, Walker said.

Industry officials say fewer regulatory hassles would speed the growth of jobs and move the nation closer to energy independence.

“We want to make this into a real industry, and we’re trying to make sure the regulatory landscape is clear so this can take off,” Walker said.

Homeowner and community groups haven’t taken a position on the bill yet. Community Associations Institute, an education and advocacy group based in Alexandria, Va., said such “green issues” arise regularly in the estimated 300,000 community groups nationwide.

The institute advises striking a balance between conservation and aesthetics, spokesman Frank Rathbun said.

Advocates say those who invest in alternative energy should be applauded instead of punished. They ultimately benefit ratepayers by reducing demand on the power grid, said Adam Browning of Vote Solar, a San Francisco-based non-profit that promotes the use of solar energy.

“It’s somebody doing their part to reduce peak load,” Browning said. “That’s the most expensive electricity utilities have to buy.”

California two years ago launched a $3.3 billion effort to increase the use of solar energy statewide, offering rebates and tax credits to consumers who install solar energy systems. Since then, the number of homes and businesses with the systems has more than doubled, growing from 23,000 in 2006 to 52,700, according to the California Public Utilities Commission.

The cost of small solar energy systems declined 9 percent in the last year, and the cost of larger installations has fallen 13 percent, the PUC said in an October report.

Still, California is far from being on track for its goal of adding 3,000 megawatts in solar panels by 2016, sufficient to power 600,000 homes.

Property owners who install panels can sell excess energy to the power companies for credit on their monthly bill.

Weinberg, the Camarillo resident, said that before his solar energy system was installed his electric bills rose as high as $500 a month for his 3,000-square-foot home during hot summer months. Since the installation, he has earned $60 in credit for sending excess energy to the grid, he said.

“There is now a greater financial incentive for people to adopt this stuff,” Weinberg said. “So I’ve got to think there’s more incentive to fight.”