Greenville, NC Solar Energy: Panel Permits (2026)

City Code § 9-4-103(PP) confines solar energy facilities to the RA-20 (Residential-Agricultural) district, on a parcel or combined parcels of at least 30 acres, approved only as a special use by the City of Greenville Board of Adjustment. The facility and its components must sit at least 50 feet from every property line and 100 feet from any residence, with inverters pushed back further to 150 feet from a residence, and individual panels or modules are capped at 25 feet in height measured from grade to the top of the structure.

Before the Board acts, an applicant must submit a site plan drawn and stamped by a North Carolina licensed surveyor or engineer showing a project narrative, the layout of panels, inverters, fencing, property lines and any residence within 100 feet, parking and access, solar access easements, the interconnection and disconnect point, drawings of the system components, and a decommissioning plan with anticipated facility life, current-dollar removal cost estimate and restoration method. The application must also include copies of any lease or easement agreements, evidence the electric utility has been told of the planned interconnection (waived for off-grid systems), and the signatures of the property owner and operator if they differ.

Once built, the facility needs six-foot security fencing around the entire perimeter and a ten-foot buffer yard of nine evergreen trees or shrubs per 100 linear feet, capable of reaching six feet within three years at 75% opacity at planting, all wiring underground except at the interconnection point, shielded outdoor lighting, and no ground-mounted system may be affixed to a wall or fence; perimeter signage is limited to one sign of 32 square feet or less.