“Significantly” means at least 20 percent.

Kathryn Doi Todd, “Tesoro del Valle Master Homeowners Assn. v. Griffin,” 200 Cal. App. 4th 619, 3 October 2011, pp. 16-17, Lexis.

(1) Section 714 prohibits homeowners associations from imposing covenants, conditions or restrictions that effectively prohibit the installation of a solar energy system. (§ 714, subd. (a).) The statute further provides: “This section does not apply to provisions that impose reasonable restrictions on solar energy systems. However, it is the policy of the state to promote and encourage the use of solar energy systems and to remove obstacles thereto. Accordingly, reasonable restrictions on a solar energy system are those restrictions that do not significantly increase the cost of the system or significantly decrease its efficiency or specified performance, or that allow for an alternative system of comparable cost, efficiency, and energy conservation benefits.” (§ 714, subd. (b).) Section 714 defines “significantly” as “an amount exceeding 20 percent of the cost of the system or decreasing the efficiency of the solar energy system by an amount exceeding 20 percent, as originally specified and proposed” for a solar water or swimming pool heating system, and as “an amount not to exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000) over the system cost as originally specified and proposed, or a decrease in system efficiency of an amount exceeding 20 percent as originally specified and proposed” for a photovoltaic system. (§ 714, subd. (d)(1)(A) & (B).)