Dane County, WI Solar Energy: Panel Permits (2026)

102(10)(i) sets the county's specific dimensional rule for solar hardware: free-standing solar collectors may be located no closer than 3 feet from any lot line, and they may not exceed the maximum height allowed for an accessory building in the applicable zoning district. That places a ground- or pole-mounted solar array in the same regulatory bucket as a shed or detached garage for height purposes, while giving it a tighter lot-line clearance (3 feet) than the county's other accessory-structure setbacks. Because erecting a free-standing collector is the erection or construction of a new structure, s.

101(1)(a)1 requires a zoning permit from the zoning administrator before installation, the same trigger that applies to any other new building on the property. The code's small-structure exemption in s. 101(1)(b), accessory buildings of 120 square feet or less on non-permanent foundations that still meet setback, height and lot coverage rules, can apply to a small ground-mounted array footprint, but does not waive the 3-foot lot-line rule or the height cap themselves, since those dimensional standards apply regardless of permit status. As with the county's other zoning provisions, this setback and permit scheme reaches only the unincorporated towns that have adopted Dane County zoning; Madison, Fitchburg, Middleton, Verona, Stoughton, Monona and Sun Prairie regulate solar installations under their own municipal codes.