Do I need a permit for solar panel installation in Palm Bay?

Florida and local notes for Palm Bay

Requirements vary between electrical-only and combined building plus electrical review. The utility interconnection agreement is separate from the permit and must be arranged with your power company. Brevard County's own permitting office is the Brevard County Building Permits office, reachable on 321-633-2187 at https://www.brevardfl.gov/PlanningAndDevelopment/BuildingPermits/BrevardCountyBuildingPermits. Its online permit portal is https://aca-prod.accela.com/brevard/Default.aspx. It issues permits for the unincorporated county. If your city does not run its own building department, this is the office that will handle the job. Brevard County publishes its wind speed requirements as a set of maps, one per Risk Category, that you search by street address. Most houses are Risk Category 2. Screen enclosures are explicitly Risk Category 1, which is a lower design requirement than the house they attach to. Be aware the county's own map instructions still tell you to install Microsoft Silverlight, which no current browser supports, so in practice you may need to call the Building Department on 321-633-2187 to get the design wind speed for your address. Palm Bay's solar checklist requires signed and sealed solar drawings and a notarized property owner authorization letter. A ground-mount system also needs an engineered foundation plan, an original signed and sealed boundary survey reviewed by Zoning, and, on septic properties, an Environmental Health approval stamp showing the distance to the septic system. Palm Bay's HB 803 exemption for small projects under $7,500 does not apply to solar installations, which are electrical work. The city lists electrical, plumbing, mechanical, gas, and structural work as needing a permit regardless of value.