Fountain Hills Rooftop Solar PV Permit: The 2023 NEC Checklist and Fire-Access Rules

A rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) system in Fountain Hills needs its own Town permit before a single panel goes up. The Town's plan review runs against its Solar Photovoltaic & Energy Storage Submittal Checklist. That checklist is written to the 2023 National Electrical Code (NEC) and the 2024 International Fire Code, both adopted by Ordinance 25-06. The review looks at three things: the electrical design, the fire-access layout on the roof, and how the array is anchored. Of those three, fire access is the one that costs you panels.

What you submit for a solar permit

Your plan set has to show the whole system on paper before it is built. The Town's checklist asks for these pieces:

• A site plan showing the house, other structures, and where the panels sit.
• A system description and equipment cut sheets for every major part: panels, inverters, any charge controllers, and batteries.
• A single-line (one-line) diagram running from the PV array through the inverter to the main service panel, plus a three-line diagram with wire sizes, conduit, overcurrent protection, disconnects, grounding, and bonding when required.
• Panel and wiring specs with the numbers the reviewer checks against the code: wire and conduit sized per NEC 690.8(A), overcurrent protection per NEC 690.9, and rapid shutdown per NEC 690.12.
• Disconnect and hazard labels, including the rapid-shutdown label, marked per NEC 690.13 and 705.10.
• Grounding for the array, including the grounding electrode. That is a ground rod, or a UFER (a bar tied into the foundation concrete). PV equipment is grounded per NEC 690.43.

Rapid shutdown is worth calling out. NEC 690.12 makes a rooftop array able to drop its rooftop wiring to a safe voltage fast, so a firefighter is not standing near live DC conductors. It is a code requirement here, not an upgrade.

The fire-access rules that reshape a layout

The rule that surprises homeowners is not electrical, it is fire access. Fountain Hills follows the 2024 fire code, which keeps clear paths and setbacks on the roof so crews can move during a fire. The checklist sets the ridge setbacks by how much roof the array covers:

For photovoltaic arrays occupying 33 percent or less of the plan view total roof area, a setback of not less than 18 inches wide is required on both sides of a horizontal ridge. For photovoltaic arrays occupying more than 33 percent of the plan view total roof area, a setback of not less than 36 inches wide is required on both sides of a horizontal ridge.

On top of the ridge setback, the code wants at least two 36-inch-wide pathways from the lowest roof edge up to the ridge, on separate roof planes, with one on the street or driveway side. For example, a homeowner who wants to blanket the south roof will cover more than 33 percent of it, so the array loses a 36-inch strip on both sides of the ridge plus the eave-to-ridge pathways. That can drop several panels from the first layout, which is why the fire-access paths are drawn before the panel count is locked.

Structural attachment and battery storage

A roof-mounted array adds weight and wind load, so the Town wants proof the roof can take it. If the system is roof-mounted, the checklist asks for structural load calculations, certified by an engineer, plus attachment methods that meet the local wind-speed rating. This is the part that keeps panels from lifting in a monsoon microburst.

Battery, or energy storage system (ESS), plans follow their own rules from NEC Article 706 and IRC Section R330. Each ESS unit is capped at 20 kWh. The total depends on where it sits. A utility closet or basement allows up to 40 kWh. A garage, an accessory structure, an exterior wall, or the ground outdoors allows up to 80 kWh. Batteries cannot go in a sleeping room or a closet that opens into one, and an outdoor unit stays at least 3 feet from doors and windows. Rooms with a battery also need smoke and heat detection.

Permit, contractor, and review

The PV permit is pulled by a properly licensed contractor. Under A.R.S. 32-1170.01, it is unlawful to install a solar device in Arizona without qualifying as a solar contractor. Your installer needs the right license, or the right dual license, to do the work and sign the permit. The Town of Fountain Hills is the authority that reviews the plans and inspects the finished system before it can be energized.

Slot the solar permit into the rest of the project. The codes behind the review are in Fountain Hills adopted building codes, the house permit is in Fountain Hills residential building permit requirements, the inspection sequence is in Fountain Hills building inspections, and the fee basis is in Fountain Hills building permit and impact fees. On a new home, folding solar in during the build sits alongside the steps to building a custom home in Arizona.

Source

The submittal items, the NEC 2023 code references, and the fire-access pathways and ridge setbacks are published by the Town of Fountain Hills in its Solar Photovoltaic & Energy Storage checklist, posted on the Building Permit Forms & Checklists page. The 2023 NEC and 2024 fire code editions, adopted by Ordinance 25-06, are listed on Adopted Codes, effective September 1, 2025. The solar contractor requirement is A.R.S. 32-1170.01.

Fountain Hills moved to the 2023 NEC on September 1, 2025, and a plan set drawn to an older edition comes back marked up. Have your installer pull the current Solar Photovoltaic & Energy Storage checklist off the Town's forms page before anyone drafts the one-line diagram.