Bonner County, ID Solar Energy: Panel Permits (2026)

Section 12-337, the Accessory Use Table, shows a P in every column, Forestry through Alpine Village, for "Accessory solar, geothermal facilities and ground-source heat pump." A second row gives the same P in all nine districts for apparatus needed for the operation of active or passive solar energy systems or other alternate energy systems, including overhangs, movable insulating walls and roofs, attached or detached solar collectors, reflectors and piping. Section 12-330 defines P: the use is permitted subject to general requirements for the use and the zoning district, so no conditional use permit is involved.

Title 12 names solar only in that table. The general permit rules still apply. Section 11-101 says no structure subject to the provisions of Title 11 can be erected, constructed, set, placed, installed, enlarged, extended, moved or converted in unincorporated Bonner County without first procuring a building location permit from the planning department prior to the start of construction, and section 12-130 says the Planning Director does not issue a permit unless the intended uses of the buildings and land conform in all respects with Title 12.

Section 12-331 gives the Planning Director final authority on whether a proposed use fits a listed category, and section 12-339 sends an unlisted use to the Planning Director for classification. Land in an agricultural protection area is different. Section 16-110 prohibits solar or wind energy structures, along with residential, commercial, manufacturing and industrial structures, unless the Board of County Commissioners approves otherwise or the use also contributes to agricultural production, and such non-agricultural uses remain subject to the applicable county zoning ordinances.