Yolo County, CA Solar Energy: Panel Permits (2026)

Yolo County Code Sec. 1104 governs every solar installation in the unincorporated area, from a rooftop array on a farmhouse to a multi-acre array feeding the grid. A 'small accessory use' system, capped at 10 kilowatts AC (or 30 kW thermal), qualifies for the streamlined track: a Building Permit plus a Zoning Clearance, with no Planning Commission hearing. Roof-mounted photovoltaic panels may rise up to 5 feet above the roof surface, and solar water or pool-heating panels up to 7 feet, even where that exceeds the zone's height limit for the main structure or the 15-foot cap on accessory structures.

Ground-mounted equipment (excluding the panels themselves) must stay at least 5 feet from any property line in residential zones and 10 feet in agricultural, commercial, industrial, and public/open-space zones; pole-mounted panels in residential zones are capped at 10 feet tall with a 5-foot rear setback, per Sec. 506(a). 5 acres move to a Building Permit plus a ministerial Site Plan Review, no public hearing, provided they meet the same development standards; missing a standard bumps the application to a Minor Use Permit before the Zoning Administrator.

Systems on non-prime farmland outside a Williamson Act contract can use Site Plan Review if the array includes a vegetative substrate under and between the panel rows. Even a by-right small system is not immune from discretion: consistent with Government Code Sec. 5, the Chief Building Official may still require a Use Permit if there is a good-faith belief the system creates a 'specific, adverse impact' on public health and safety. The ordinance was adopted by Ord. 1445 (eff. August 14, 2014) and amended by Ord. 1497 (2018) and Ord. 1522 (2020).