Mesa, AZ Solar Energy: Panel Permits (2026)

Section 11-30-15(A) of Mesa's General Site Development Standards governs solar installations. Panels attached to a sloped roof must sit entirely on the roof surface in every zoning district. Panels mounted behind a parapet on a flat roof are treated as a height-limit projection under Table 11-30-3, which caps rooftop solar and other energy-production facilities at 20 percent of the district's base height limit above the otherwise-applicable maximum building height, with no limit on roof coverage. Detached, freestanding solar structures, the ground-mounted kind, are permitted only in Single Residence zoning districts and must meet all the location, maximum-height and maximum-roof-area standards that Section 11-5-7(B) sets for Detached Accessory Structures; they aren't allowed in multifamily, commercial or industrial districts.

Larger installations fall under Section 11-30-15(B) as Solar Farms and Alternative Energy Production Facilities: these are permitted wherever the underlying zoning district's Article 2 use table allows them, but must observe that district's normal setback and landscaping standards, and the panels and support equipment must be screened from the public right-of-way by a wall or fence as tall as the equipment itself or at least 8 feet, whichever is less. None of these standards create a standalone solar permit; installation still runs through the standard Title 4 building-permit process, with the Section 11-30-15 siting rules enforced by the Planning Division as zoning-compliance conditions of that permit.