Onslow County, NC Solar Energy: Panel Permits (2026)

13(K) of the Onslow County Code of Ordinances governs Ground Mounted Solar Electricity Systems, allowed as a permitted use in the Rural Agricultural (RA), Light Industrial (L-IN), and Heavy Industrial (H-IN) zoning districts. Ground-mounted equipment must be set back 30 feet from public and private street rights-of-way, 15 feet from side lot lines, 25 feet from rear property lines, and 100 feet from any residential dwelling unit that existed when the application was submitted; security fencing, poles, and utility connection wires are exempt from those setbacks.

The system's height, measured from the highest natural grade below each panel, cannot exceed 20 feet, excluding any utility poles or antennas built for the project. Before the technical review committee meeting on the project, the applicant must mail written notice of the system's location, technology, land coverage, and a glint and glare study to the Albert J. Ellis Airport director, any other nearby airport or airstrip within five nautical miles, and the commanding officers of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station New River, at least 30 days before that meeting.

A decommissioning plan signed by the responsible party and the landowner must define when decommissioning is triggered, require removal of all non-utility equipment and foundations, restore the property to pre-development conditions, and finish within 18 months, with the plan recorded at the Register of Deeds before final electrical inspection. The site also needs a Type C buffer along its perimeter, shielded and downcast lighting, a voltage warning sign at the main gate, and an internal access road meeting Fire Apparatus Access Road standards. 6(B)(1)(c), so a rooftop installation is not measured against the standard height cap the way a ground-mounted system's own 20-foot limit applies.