Piscataway, NJ Solar Energy: Panel Permits (2026)

Piscataway Township Code Section 21-1014, added by Ordinance No. 11-25 and amended by Ordinance No. 19-32, governs solar installations townshipwide. Before any panel goes up, Section 21-1014.2 requires the applicant to obtain approval from both the Zoning Officer and the Construction Official and to submit information showing the system meets the chapter's standards. Rooftop arrays, per Section 21-1014.3a, are a conditional use limited to the principal structure in any zoning district: panels cannot exceed 12 inches above the roof, cannot push total building height past what the district otherwise allows, and cannot overhang the roofline.

Any ground-mounted frame hardware, piping or equipment tied to a rooftop system must stay out of the front yard, meet the zone's accessory-structure setback, and be screened from neighbors with plantings or a fence-and-planting combination; that equipment tops out at four feet in residential zones and eight feet elsewhere. Ground arrays themselves, under Section 21-1014.3b, need a 40-foot setback from all property lines in residential districts (or the principal-structure setback in nonresidential zones), cannot go in a front yard, must aim any glare away from neighboring land, and are capped at five feet in residential zones and 10 feet in nonresidential zones.

Section 21-1014.4 bars using a system for advertising beyond one manufacturer identification, requires screening to blend into the setting, and requires National Electric Code compliance and PSE&G sign-off. A system idle for 12 straight months is deemed abandoned under Section 21-1014.5; the Zoning Officer sends a Notice of Abandonment, and the owner has 60 days to remove it before the Township can do so and place a lien on the property for the cost.