Albemarle property owners who want to install solar-energy facilities or battery-storage systems now have an easier pathway to do so.
At its July 16 meeting, the Board of Supervisors adopted a new ordinance regulating solar facilities as well as battery-energy storage systems.
Under the new regulations, “accessory” energy facilities are allowed in any zoning district without permission from the BOS, as long as the installations are smaller than 500 square feet. In the rural area, solar installations could be on as much as 21 acres without getting legislative approval, unless more than 10 acres of forest or prime farmland would be disturbed…