How To Build Solar Panels on Your Property Without Council Approval

Did you know that solar panels can be installed on a building in NSW without requiring DA or Council approval? PropCode can help you take advantage of special rules in SEPPs and other planning documents.

State Environmental Planning Policy (Transport and Infrastructure) 2021 (https://app.propcode.com.au/library/document/nsw/epi-2021-0732) lists solar panels and other residential green energy infrastructure as exempt or complying development if certain conditions are met.

Exempt Solar Panel Development

Exempt development, unlike compliant development, does not require any sort of planning approval by a council or planning professional. Generally, to streamline building processes, property owners would completely adhere to the exempt building guidelines.

To be exempt from any required planning approval, the solar panel system must:

• If ground-mounted: be installed 3m or more from the adjoining property boundary, have a maximum area of 150 m² and a height of 5m, and be installed 10m or more from a dwelling not owned or occupied by the property owner
• In case of building-mounted systems: if it protrudes more than 0.5m, it must be installed 1m or more from the adjoining property boundary
• If installed in a heritage conservation area: (building-mounted), it cannot protrude more than 0.5m from any building, cannot be visible from the road adjoining to the property boundary, cannot be attached to any wall or roof that is facing a primary road

A building-mounted solar system of any area and power output can be exempt development so long as it is within protrusion limits which vary by zone. Furthermore, a solar system can be exempt development even in a heritage item or conservation area if the system does not face the primary road.

Compliant Solar Panel Development

If it doesn’t meet those limits, it can still be approved as CDC (complying development) by a certifier if it is:

• Maximum area: 500 m² (ground-mounted)
• Maximum height: 10 m (ground-mounted)
• Installed 10m from the adjoining property boundary (ground-mounted)
• Protrusion limits for non-ground-mounted: Facing a main road and in specific residential zones: 0.5m; In specific residential zones: 1.5m; All other zones: 3m
• Not within a heritage conservation area

These guidelines are easily found with PropCode's planning policy tools. A "solar panel" search query directs to the State Environmental Planning Policy, along with any council-specific Local Environmental Plans. Our tools then allow you to gain better understanding of solar panel criteria and NSW planning documents. With PropCode’s advanced search engine and easy-to-use interface, you can quickly and easily answer all of the questions you have about your property.

To find out more about special cases in the rules, use PropCode Library (https://app.propcode.com.au/library/document/nsw/epi-2021-0732) to quickly search for what you’re interested in!