since this came up in another topic


https://www.primalsurvivor.net/alabama-off-grid-laws/

Ok I just read that in its entirety, and obviously what's law and what's enforced in alabama are two completely different things

Alabamastan

Yeah, I wouldn't put too much confidence in that article. Consider this paragraph:

>>>Off-grid electricity is legal in Alabama. You will need a permit for your system, and, in most cases, it needs to be installed by a licensed electrician. The permit and installation requirements vary depending on the county.<<<

Let me suggest that someone go to the Coosa county courthouse and tell them you want to buy a permit to install a solar panel. I predict you will get a lot of blank looks, as I can't imagine they have ever heard of such.

I am not aware of the place I live being "zoned" for anything. I don't think the writer of the article knows a lot about how rural counties operate. You can have a mobile home on one lot, a million dollar house on the next, and a hog pen on the next. The only permit I got when I built my house was for the septic tank, and the only inspection was for it. Though I don't think the lady ever actually came out and looked at it.

I will say that the tax man is good about finding improvements on private property. Put up a building and he is gonna be around to look at it to figure out how much you owe him.

Most counties don't require you build by code when on the grid , so how they gonna regulate off the grid? As far as Tax Man fining improvements and buildings , you can thank satellites for that . They busted me a couple years ago . You can't hide anything now days.

There was a guy that lived right below Mitchell Dam for a pretty good while. I always wondered how he got away with it as I think it is Alabama Power land. He was pretty good at staying out of plain sight most of the time.

No building permit required if you are outside the city is what I was told when I called city hall. Coming from Florida I was amazed.

Several methematitions do the off grid thing close to my property…. Have had to let a few know that once they get past the paint the healer and cur dog doesn’t play well with strangers… but they don’t do solar electricity

As far as putting solar panels up for personal use, they probably need to be installed somewhere other than the roof of your house because it can affect home insurance. Some will not cover roof repair or replacing if solar panels were installed on them.

Otherwise, if you are out in the county you should be able to do what you want as long as it has no affect on anyone around you.

Heck, I know of a house right now that does not have a septic tank - the pipe just runs out into a pasture with a bathtub underneath where the pipe comes out. The house was moved in there years ago and that was what the owner did and it has never been changed to a septic tank. I doubt many people know and no one from the county has ever addressed it so far as I know since it has not been updated.

We have a cabin in a pretty rural area that got ransacked by presumably meth heads who stole a bunch of the electrical components. We couldn't even find a licensed electrician to work on it and had to go through "guys who knew a guy" until we could find someone and then we did part of the repairs ourself, part with him, and part of it the electric company coached us up on changes we need to make.

Needless to say it got done but definitely wasn't formal.

I have never figured out how I can keep cool in Alabama summers when it's 100 degrees. All these off-grid shows I watch they are up north.

Need a deep basement dwelling for that I guess…

Well insulated smaller house and 110V based mini split systems.
It’s feasible to be off grid and comfortable

We built our cabin in Cherokee County and the only permit we had to get and the only time anyone from the county came out was when we put in the septic tank.

If you are in a city, that's a different story.

By the way our cabin is all built above code.

Just wait, Al Power will lobby someone and then you won't be able to have solar unless the bless it.

Unless it’s changed recently, it’s police jurisdiction and then it’s only half of what a building permit costs if you are building inside city limits.

Don't think it's that way in Jackson Co.

Pretty sure the only permit for my recent build was for septic. If others were pulled by the builder I never saw them.

Whole lot more to it than a simple permit. The guy who done the perk test had to be certified results had to be handed over to the health department and ok d. The guy who installed septic tank had to be certified by the state and he had regulation he had to go by .

When my sister had her house built the county had to look at the system before they coyld covered it up

Yep completely understand. Buddies with the guy who did it. I’m talking about the other 95% of the house!!