Pima County, AZ Solar Energy: Panel Permits (2026)

Pima County's zoning code treats rooftop and ground-mounted solar as an accessory use permitted in every zone of the unincorporated county, which covers the desert and foothill subdivisions ringing Tucson but not the city itself or Marana, Oro Valley, Sahuarita and South Tucson, which run separate codes. 030(P)(3)(c), a panel mounted on a parapet or flat roof can't project more than eight feet above the roofline, while a panel on a gable, hip or gambrel roof is capped at six feet above the roof surface; either way, the combined height of the panel structure and the building it sits on must still stay within the underlying zone's maximum building height.

Ground-mounted arrays six feet tall or shorter follow the same front, side and rear setbacks as a main structure; taller ground arrays get an extra two feet of side setback. Ground-mounted systems generally top out at ten feet, though the code allows up to sixteen feet in the IR, RH, GR-1, SR and SR-2 rural zones and in all commercial and industrial zones. Systems set back less than fifty feet from a neighbor in the CR-1, CR-2, SR or SR-2 zones need a wall, opaque fence or matching vegetative screening unless every abutting owner signs off in writing.

Panels can't direct glare onto neighboring properties or roadways, and the chief zoning inspector may require written certification that the system's output is reasonably matched to the property's own electricity use before issuing a permit. An inoperable system must be repaired or removed within one year. 070, decided by the zoning inspector after notice to adjacent owners and appealable to the board of adjustment.