Solar Panels No longer Considered in Calculating Impervious Coverage
By: Michael J. Lipari, Esq.
In yet another move to ease the burden on environmentally friendly development in New Jersey, the legislature passed the bill known as S-921, which exempts solar panels from surfaces classified as impervious. One of the most fundamental land use restrictions in New Jersey concerns the amount of impervious coverage (e.g. buildings, pavement, decks and patios) permitted on any single project or property. It was previously unknown whether solar panels were pervious or impervious because the panels usually sit on brackets and are typically not flush on the ground or a building and therefore do not necessarily reduce or prevent absorption of stormwater into the land.
This new legislation, which was signed into law by Governor Christie on April 22, 2010, clarifies this issue and removes a regulatory burden on developers looking to green-up their projects. This law should not have much of an impact on rooftop solar panel systems because those systems are already affixed to an impervious surface, the roof. The real benefit will be to projects that are seeking to install solar panel systems on the ground. Now with the adoption of S-921, only the base or foundation of the system that is affixed to the land will be considered impervious, and not the area of the solar panels.
This change applies across the board and amends the following areas of law: 1) the waterfront development law; 2) the Pinelands Protection Act; 3) the Coastal Area Facility Review Act (“CAFRA”); 4) the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act; 5) the Municipal Land Use Law (“MLUL”); the law concerning stormwater management plans; 6) and the law concerning conversion of age restricted developments to non-restricted developments.