Solar Permits and Regulations

The Park Forest Building Department will attempt to process building permits for residential solar energy systems within three business days of receiving all correct and necessary documentation.

View Park Forest’s solar statement

  • Traditional building permit required for solar projects on rooftops
  • Special use permit required for ground-mounted or solar farm (will change with adoption of the Unified Development Ordinance)
  • Two inspections are required during the process: one for framing and one for final
  • All solar installers are required to hold a Contractor’s License with Park Forest


 Requirements Checklist:

  • Building Permit Application must be completely filled out. Signature of landlord required on all tenant work
  • Construction drawings (two sets) providing information necessary for review are required. The construction drawings are required to be stamped/sealed by a structural engineer
  • Plat of Survey
  • Signed and dated contract, including the scope and cost of the project


Fee for permit, based on cost of job:

  • Value less than $250: No fee; permit is required
  • $250 to $1500: $60
  • $1501 to $2000: $100
  • $2001 and over: $100 plus $10 per $1,000 on valuations over $2001


 Minimum requirements for residential solar arrays:

The structural installation of the system meets the following criteria:

  • The array is mounted on a code-compliant structure
  • An engineered mounting system is used to attach the array to the structure
  • The array has a distributed weight of less than 5 lbs per square foot and less than 45 lbs per attachment (unless additional information regarding roof structure reinforcement is provided and confirmed by a certified design professional

The electrical design of the system can be described using the supplied standard electrical diagram and meets the following criteria:

  • All products are listed and identified for the application (e.g. modules, inverters, source combiners, etc.)
  • The array is composed of 4 series strings or less
  • The inverter output is 13.44 kW or less (maximum size for 70-amp breaker) and is connected on the load side of the service disconnect