Lansing, MI Solar Energy: Panel Permits (2026)

Section 1250.03.02 sets "supplementary height regulations" that let specific building features exceed a zoning district's normal height cap. Subsection (b) covers solar directly: "Roof-mounted solar energy systems on a building or accessory structure may exceed the allowable height limit of the district by up to 36 inches." The same section allows ordinary architectural extensions like cornices only five feet above the limit, so solar gets its own, smaller allowance measured from the roofline rather than the cornice standard.

Ground-mounted systems are regulated separately, inside the accessory-structure standards of § 1250.04.01(b), which apply to residential districts. Three numbered rules there govern them: panels and their support structures cannot exceed six feet in height "when orientated at a maximum tilt as measured from the existing grade" (paragraph 12); the system must be screened from adjoining residential uses "by landscaping, tree coverage, opaque fencing, or any combination thereof" (paragraph 10); and every exterior electrical line running from a ground-mounted system has to be buried below grade (paragraph 11). The City's zoning district use tables separately list "Solar Energy Systems" as a use permitted by right (marked "P") in every zoning district, so a homeowner or business does not need a special or conditional use approval to install one, only compliance with these height, screening, and burial standards, which the Zoning Administrator checks as part of the ordinary building permit and site review process for the property.