Arlington Heights, IL Solar Energy: Panel Permits (2026)

17-2 sets performance, safety and bulk standards for solar energy systems. On performance and safety: electrical lines connecting a ground-based system to a building must run underground, the system may serve only the property it sits on except for utility reverse metering, and any system unused for 90 consecutive days must be removed. The bulk rules split by district. In residential districts, roof-mounted equipment cannot extend more than five feet above the highest point of the roof; wall-mounted equipment cannot rise above the eave line or parapet top, is limited to a side or rear wall, and cannot project more than 12 inches from the wall; and ground-based systems are capped at one per zoning lot, 15 feet tall at maximum tilt, 200 square feet of surface area, located only in the rear yard, and set back at least 15 feet from any lot line, with no placement in a utility easement absent agency permission.

Non-residential districts get a similar roof and wall cap, but ground systems there may add one additional unit per acre beyond the first acre, and B-5 district properties cannot mount wall-based systems at all. Non-residential ground systems may sit in any required yard except that O-T and O-R district systems cannot be placed in a required front or exterior side yard.