Roseville, MN Solar Energy: Panel Permits (2026)

Roseville allows solar energy systems as accessory uses in all zoning classifications where structures of any sort are allowed (section 1011.10(a)). Installing one takes two separate approvals. First, section 1011.10(b)(5) requires administrative plan approval by the Community Development Department for all solar energy systems. The application must include scaled horizontal and vertical (elevation) drawings showing the system's location on the building, or on the property with the property lines for a ground-mounted system. Pitched-roof drawings show the highest finished slope of the solar collector and the slope of the roof surface it sits on. Flat-roof drawings show the distance to the roof edge and any parapets, the building height on the street frontage side, the shortest distance of the system from the street frontage edge, and the highest finished height of the collector above the roof surface.

An application that meets the design requirements gets administrative approval and does not go to the planning commission. That approval is not a code sign-off: plan approval does not indicate compliance with building code or electric code. Second, subsection (b)(7) requires building permits for all active solar energy systems, and subsection (b)(8) requires photovoltaic systems to comply with the state electric code. A grid-intertie photovoltaic system cannot be installed until the owner has given the department evidence of notifying the utility company of the intent to install an interconnected customer-owned generator. Off-grid systems are exempt from that notice.

The design standards the plan must meet include a UL listing for electric components, a 15-foot height cap for ground- or pole-mounted systems at maximum tilt, roof coverage of no more than 80 percent of the south-facing or flat roof with a one-foot setback from the roof edge, and community development staff review for wind load of roof-mounted systems visible from the street frontage.