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Solar site surveys · OhioA technician on the roof, in the attic and at the service panel, with the survey read against the code editions, AHJs and utilities that apply in Ohio.
Ohio sets one statewide code stack: the Residential Code of Ohio (2018 IRC base) with the 2023 NEC for one- to three-family homes, the 2024 Ohio Building Code for everything else, and a 2025 Ohio Fire Code that pulls in the 2024 IFC's energy-systems chapter. Permits come only from building departments certified by the Board of Building Standards, and net metering credits monthly excess generation at the energy component of the utility's standard service offer rather than the full retail rate.
The capture spec is the same everywhere. What the engineer and the plan reviewer read it against is not.
The RCO leaves ground snow load and wind speed for each jurisdiction to fill in on Table R301.2(1); Columbus, for example, publishes 20 psf ground snow and a 90 mph wind speed.10,11
Where no certified residential building department has jurisdiction, homeowners need no residential plan approval, so the paperwork a job needs depends on the address.12
The 2025 Ohio Fire Code adds a state-specific red dual-power warning sign with 3-inch white letters for structures with PV, on top of NEC labeling.9
Ohio's planned-community statute allows solar unless the declaration expressly bans it, so the governing documents need to be checked before design.13
Who reviews the plan set, and what the state layers on top.
Most Ohioans served by investor-owned utilities can buy generation from a PUCO-certified supplier while the local utility keeps delivering power; a supplier may offer its own net metering terms by contract.15,14
Serves about 1.5 million customers in 61 Ohio counties, including Columbus. Interconnection requests go through AEP's PowerClerk portal under PUCO rules in OAC 4901:1-22 and IEEE 1547, and qualifying renewable systems can take its Net Energy Metering Service.16,17
Interconnection page ↗FirstEnergy's three Ohio utilities offer a Net Energy Metering Rider; exports offset delivered energy one-for-one within the billing period and any surplus is credited at the generation component of the customer's rate.18
Interconnection page ↗Serves more than 735,000 customers in parts of Adams, Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Hamilton, Montgomery and Warren counties in southwest Ohio, including Cincinnati.19
Interconnection page ↗One standard, one visit, the same record in Ohio as everywhere else. What it gets checked against is the code stack above.
The 2023 NEC, adopted statewide in 2024 for both the Ohio Building Code and the Residential Code of Ohio, with Ohio modifications.1,2
Usage and exports are netted monthly; any excess is converted to a dollar credit at the energy component of the utility's standard service offer that rolls forward on future bills but is not paid out.14
PUCO's rule requires customer-generators to size systems at no more than 120% of their electricity requirements, generally based on the prior three years of usage.14
RCO R324.6 calls for two 36-inch pathways from eave to ridge and 18-inch ridge setbacks (36 inches above 33% coverage), with exceptions for roofs of 2:12 or less.10
Only if its declaration specifically prohibits them. Otherwise ORC 5312.16 lets owners install solar, subject to reasonable size and placement rules.13
Metro pages for Ohio: Columbus.
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Explore →Every local fact on this page links to where it came from. Codes, programs and tariffs change: confirm the current requirement with the AHJ and the utility before you design.
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