Anderson County Planning and Zoning Commissioners approved a comprehensive set of solar energy regulations which give approval to private and small business use, while capping the size of industrial installations. County commissioners instituted two one-year moratoriums on industrial solar applications while planning and zoning staff researched a regulatory outline aimed primarily at industrial solar projects in the county. Under the proposal, rooftop solar installations would remain exempt from the new rules. The regulations apply only to ground-mounted solar energy conversion systems used primarily for commercial or utility-scale electricity production.
A major feature of the proposal is a 4,000-acre cap on the total amount of land countywide that may be permitted for solar projects. All acreage within an approved permit area would count toward the cap, not just the land occupied by solar panels. Once the cap is reached, no additional solar projects could be approved unless existing projects are fully decommissioned or abandoned.
