Rapides Parish, LA Solar Energy: Panel Permits (2026)

The Rapides Parish Police Jury created the solar farm permitting scheme in Chapter 26, Article I (adopted by ordinance June 9, 2025) to cover any utility scale solar project facility, defined as a production facility that uses photovoltaic modules to convert solar energy into electricity delivered to a transmission system. The article expressly does not apply to a solar collector installed to power a single residential dwelling or commercial property, so a homeowner or business adding rooftop panels for its own use falls outside this permitting process.

For a qualifying solar farm, the applicant files a permit application with the Rapides Parish Planning Commission, which checks the application for completeness and gives the applicant 60 days to fix any deficiencies once notified in writing. The Planning Commission then recommends approval or denial to the Police Jury; construction cannot start until the Police Jury approves and the Planning Commission issues the permit. A facility must sit on at least 20 aggregate acres, keep panels back 100 feet from public roads and property lines (500 feet from an occupied residence, business, or place of worship), and stay under 16 feet for rotating racking or 18 feet for fixed panels.

Before construction begins, the owner must post a performance guarantee for decommissioning of no less than $500,000, even if salvage value would otherwise reduce that figure. The application fee is $10,000, non-refundable, and the permit fee itself equals one percent of total construction cost, due before the building permit issues. A permit lapses three years from issuance if construction has not begun, or four years if the facility has not reached substantial completion. Denials may be appealed to the Police Jury and, after that, to the district court within 30 days of the Police Jury's certified-mail decision.