Nassau County, FL Solar Energy: Panel Permits (2026)

15, the county's general accessory-use standard, and solar energy systems fall squarely under it. Subsection (A) allows any accessory use or structure "customarily incidental" to a permitted principal use in every zoning district in unincorporated Nassau County, provided it sits on the same lot as that principal use. Subsection (D) then lists solar energy systems among the accessory uses specifically permitted in residential and Open Rural districts, alongside garages, sheds, greenhouses and swimming pools. The operative limit for a home installation is narrow but clear: a roof-mounted system may not project more than two feet above the existing roofline of the house it serves.

Nassau County does not cap ground-mounted arrays by height in this section; instead it folds them into the setback rules that already apply to any other detached accessory structure in that zoning district, meaning a ground array on a residential lot has to sit back from front, side and rear lines the same distance a shed or carport would. Because solar panels are treated as an accessory use rather than a separately licensed activity, an installer works through the county's standard accessory-structure and building-permit process administered by the Building Department rather than a solar-specific track.

Property owners on Amelia Island outside Fernandina Beach and in the Yulee and Callahan areas are all subject to the same countywide standard; there is no separate rule for the barrier island.