West Des Moines, IA Solar Energy: Panel Permits (2026)

Section 9-14-14.C.2 of the West Des Moines Zoning Code makes it unlawful to construct, erect, install, alter or locate a solar energy system anywhere in the City without City approval. The approval path depends on zoning: open space and single-family residential zoned property needs a building permit, while every other zoning district needs a site plan, or a major or minor site plan modification. The code carves out one exception to the site plan path: residential medium- or high-density districts do not need a new or modified site plan when the system goes on an owner-occupied dwelling that is detached or part of a horizontally attached multi-family building.

Beyond the permit itself, section 9-14-14.C.2.c requires the owner or operator to obtain any other permits required by federal, state or local agencies before erecting the system. The chapter layers on additional, permit-adjacent requirements: no more than one system per zoning lot unless the City Council specifically approves more, an engineer's certification and standard drawings with the application, compliance with the National Electrical Code, utility notification before an interconnected system generates electricity, and a rule that a system left nonfunctional for a continuous year is deemed abandoned and must be removed by the owner at their own expense.

Large solar energy systems rated over 15 kilowatts are barred outright in the Open Space district and on single-family property except as a building-integrated or building-mounted, grid-connected system, and utility-scale systems are not allowed anywhere in the City.