Yonkers, NY Solar Energy: Panel Permits (2026)

Added to the zoning code in 2021, Section 43-23 splits solar installations into three tracks. For one- and two-family dwellings, subsection B allows rooftop or building-mounted collectors as a permitted accessory use, but requires both a building permit and an electrical permit, mounting devices that meet the New York State Building Code, and bars ground-mounted or freestanding collectors outright on these lots. Panels may extend up to 18 inches above the district's maximum height limit with unlimited rooftop coverage, but cannot rise above the ridge of a gable, hip, or gambrel roof.

For all other zones, subsection C allows rooftop- and building-mounted collectors as a permitted accessory use under Table 43-1 without Planning Board approval, requiring a building permit, and the panel surface must be set back at least three feet from the roof's exterior perimeter. Ground-mounted and freestanding collectors are treated differently: subsection D permits them only with Planning Board approval, only outside single- and two-family districts, capped at 15 feet in height at maximum tilt, sited in a side or rear yard meeting standard accessory-structure setbacks, and must be removed within six months once abandoned.

Subsection E caps rooftop solar on all other districts and structures at three feet above a flat or shed roof surface, again with unlimited coverage of the roof itself.