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Goodhue County Zoning Ordinance

Regulations
Wind Energy    Zoning    Solar Energy   
Minnesota
2014
Municipal
County Of Goodhue   
Urban | Suburban | Rural
Goodhue County adopted solar energy system (SES) regulations in Article 19 of its zoning ordinance. These regulations define a ground-mounted SES as a solar collector located on the ground surface that is physically affixed or attached to the ground, including pole-mounted systems. The regulations define a roof-mounted SES as a solar collector located on the roof of a building or structure that may be physically affixed or attached to the roof. For both ground-mounted and roof-mounted SESs, the regulations include sub-definitions for residential, commercial, and utility scale SESs. The regulations define a residential SES as accessory to the primary use of the land, designed to supply energy for onsite residential use with excess energy sold back to the grid through net metering. A commercial SES is defined as accessory to a permitted farm or business use of the land, designed to generate energy to offset utility costs or as an additional revenue stream. Finally, the utility Scale SES is defined as an energy system that is the primary use of the land, designed to provide energy primarily to offsite uses or for export to the wholesale market.