Fayette County, GA Solar Energy: Panel Permits (2026)

Section 110-79(l) sets the standards for ground-mounted solar panels as a residential accessory structure: they are limited to three per lot, the total cumulative square footage cannot exceed 900 square feet, the panels cannot exceed ten feet in height, and they must comply with the required setbacks and the location rules that apply to accessory structures generally. The same subsection creates a sliding scale for how solar counts against the county's overall accessory-structure cap: ground-mounted arrays totaling 200 square feet or less do not count toward the number of accessory structures allowed on the lot under § 110-79(c), while arrays larger than 200 square feet, up to the 900-square-foot ceiling, count as one accessory structure.

Solar panels are one of the eighteen residential accessory uses enumerated at § 110-79(a)(11), permitted in A-R and all residential zoning districts. Roof-mounted solar panels are treated differently and are exempt from the county's height limit entirely under § 110-75, which lists roof-mounted solar panels among the structures and features, such as chimneys, HVAC equipment, and parapet walls, that may exceed the zoning district's height cap without additional review.