NCCETC launches stakeholder sessions for solar model ordinances

The North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center (NCCETC) has held its first stakeholder engagement session to develop solar and storage model ordinances for large-scale renewable energy siting in the Carolinas under the Carolinas DASH initiative.

• Session #1 on November 18, 2025 focused on utility-scale solar ordinance categories (technology definition, setbacks, fencing, screening/buffering, height/visual/noise restrictions, planning/applications, and community engagement), with expert context from Professor Adam Lovelady on zoning, land-use regulation, and permitting pathways such as special use permits and conditional zoning.
• Stakeholders from renewable developers, advocacy groups, local and state government, and agriculture discussed detailed design choices such as acreage vs MW-based definitions, setback purposes and waivers, buffer opacity and maintenance, agrivoltaics-compatible height limits, treatment of interconnection/transformers, and preferences for by-right zoning vs special/conditional use permits; NCCETC will hold future sessions on storage, land use, appendices, and draft ordinance feedback, and invites written input via DSIRE-Admin@ncsu.edu and resources on the Carolinas DASH website.