Montgomery County, VA Solar Energy: Panel Permits (2026)

Montgomery County treats a community or utility-scale solar energy system as a special use, meaning it can only go forward with a special use permit approved by the Board of Supervisors, subject to whatever reasonable conditions the board attaches. Sec 10-48 lays out exactly what the application must contain: a project narrative naming the applicant, facility owner and operator, describing site size, generating capacity in AC and DC, panel count and design, and how the electricity reaches the grid; a concept plan showing property lines, buffers, access roads confirmed with VDOT, and staging areas; a landscaping and screening plan; and an environmental and cultural resource review covering the Virginia Department of Historic Resources' records, wildlife habitat, and any airport within a mile.

The performance standards that follow carry the real numbers. Facilities cannot sit within a mile of an airport without an FAA no-hazard certification and a glint-and-glare study, and utility-scale projects are excluded from areas the Comprehensive Plan designates as Urban Development, Village, Village Expansion or Urban Expansion Areas. Panels, equipment and accessory structures must be set back at least 100 feet from every property line and public right-of-way, with the county able to push that further near residential districts, agricultural and forestal districts, conservation easements or historic districts.

Ground-mounted panels cannot exceed 15 feet in height, measured from natural grade to the panel's highest point at full tilt. The site needs a security fence at least 8 feet tall installed inside a vegetative buffer, dark-sky-compliant lighting, and panels must carry anti-glare, antireflective coatings. Equipment has to meet named product and safety standards, including UL 61730-2, IEC 61215-2, IEEE 1547 and NSF/ANSI 457, with the application identifying which standard each component satisfies.