Myrtle Beach, SC
Solar Panel Installation in Myrtle Beach, SC
Each step from first visit to switch-on, and what Santee Cooper and the City need at each one.
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Myrtle Beach solar installation timeline, step by step
| Step | What happens in Myrtle Beach | Published timing |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Consultation | Confirm Santee Cooper is your utility (not Horry Electric Cooperative), check HOA covenants, and pull 12 months of bills. Rebate customers file a Rebate Reservation Worksheet that sets maximum monthly demand | — |
| 2. Site assessment | Roof condition, shade, service panel, and the flood zone printed on the City permit application (AE or VE) | — |
| 3. Design | Sized to the lesser of 20 kW or estimated maximum monthly demand; drawings sealed by an SC professional engineer to the 2021 IRC and 2020 NEC | — |
| 4. Utility approval | $100 interconnection request through DocuSign with insurance proof, diagram and data sheets. Santee Cooper sends a savings estimate to rebate applicants | Decision within 10 business days |
| 5. Permitting | Building and electrical applications to Construction Services, 921 N Oak St, with the approved interconnection and a structural analysis; CAB approval if oceanfront | Ask the City |
| 6. Installation | Racking, modules, inverter, disconnects; flashing method as shown on the drawings | Rebate: within 90 days of interconnection approval |
| 7. Inspection | City inspections, scheduled on 843-918-1111; notarized installer letter at final | — |
| 8. Interconnection | Final passed inspection report to Santee Cooper; it runs final acceptance testing | — |
| 9. Permission to operate | Switch on only after Santee Cooper accepts the system. Rebate application due within 90 days of install | Rebate checks typically within six weeks of acceptance |
From the City’s solar plan review requirements and Santee Cooper’s 2026 program manual, retrieved 5 October 2026.
Myrtle Beach site assessment, design and engineering
The City asks for more engineering than many inland towns.
Every roof-mounted job needs an engineer’s structural analysis showing the existing roof can carry the arrays, and the construction drawings must be sealed by a South Carolina professional engineer, be site specific, and show the module, inverter and racking make and model with their UL listings, the method of sealing and flashing roof penetrations, the connection details to the building, and a roof plan with any required fire setbacks.
Ground mounts add a site plan.
Wind is the reason. NOAA logged an average of 12.18 thunderstorm and high-wind events a year in Horry County from 2015 to 2025, with gusts to 65 knots and 20 tornadoes, before counting hurricanes. The engineer, not the salesperson, sets the attachment spacing for your address.
Electrical plans the City of Myrtle Beach expects
The electrical set is a three-line diagram, or a line diagram that meets the National Electrical Code, showing arc-fault protection, the inverter’s UL 62109 or UL 1741 listing and the modules’ UL 1703 listing, the AC disconnect and utility disconnect locations, combiner boxes, your service panel bus rating and main breaker, conductor sizes, grounding and bonding, required labels, and, if there is one, the battery disconnect and overcurrent protection.
Santee Cooper separately requires the system to meet IEEE 1547 and pass the UL 1741 anti-islanding test. If your panel bus cannot take the solar breaker, the upgrade belongs in the design stage, not as a change order. Panel upgrade check.
Roof considerations in Myrtle Beach
Half of Myrtle Beach’s homes were built in or before 1992 (ACS 2023), so many roofs are on their second covering or approaching replacement, and Horry County reported 51 hail events from 2015 to 2025, four of them 2 inches or larger.
Settle the roof first: panels last longer than most shingle roofs, and removing and reinstalling them later is a separate bill. Roof-before-solar check.
Flat roofs on townhomes and low-rise condos need a ballast or attachment design the engineer signs off, and in an association building the roof is usually common property, so the association, not the unit owner, makes the call.
Flood zones and oceanfront rules in Myrtle Beach
Construction Services checks every application against FEMA’s Special Flood Hazard Areas. Myrtle Beach has both AE and VE zones, and the City requires a home’s first floor to be three feet above the base flood elevation.
Ground-level inverters, disconnects and batteries below that height risk saltwater damage in a surge; ask for them on an upper wall or inside the conditioned envelope. Questions go to the City’s Floodplain Coordinator on 843-918-1163.
Oceanfront properties may also be subject to state coastal rules (OCRM and DHEC), and the City requires Community Appearance Board approval for solar on oceanfront single-family homes. Build that review into the schedule before ordering equipment.
What can delay a Myrtle Beach solar installation
The City lists the approved interconnection request as a minimum document, so the package stalls.
Both are on the City’s minimum list.
Oceanfront, multi-family and commercial projects need the CAB; HOA communities need a letter.
Late applicants go on a waiting list for the next program period.
Install within 90 days of interconnection approval and submit the rebate within 90 days of installation, or lose the rebate.
The City will not pass the final without it.
Adding a battery during a Myrtle Beach install
A battery installed with the panels goes on the same drawings and the same permits; the City’s electrical checklist asks for the battery disconnect and overcurrent protection.
The flood-height logic applies twice over, because a battery is the most expensive box on the wall. The rebate does not cover the battery portion.
Why you might want one on a Santee Cooper bill is on Myrtle Beach battery storage.
Installation costs and what a Myrtle Beach quote should include
We do not publish an installed price for Myrtle Beach. A complete quote here should include the engineering and sealed drawings, the structural analysis, City permit and plan-review fees, the $100 Santee Cooper fee, the notarized final letter, and who handles the rebate paperwork.
Fees and worked examples are on the Myrtle Beach cost page; how to vet the company is on Myrtle Beach solar installers.
Preparing a Myrtle Beach home for installation day
Have 12 months of Santee Cooper bills, your account number, proof of homeowner’s liability insurance that meets Santee Cooper’s minimum, and any HOA approval to hand.
If the house is a rental or second home, arrange access for the City inspectors and for any Santee Cooper site visit, which can happen up to two years after rebate approval. More on statewide practice: South Carolina solar installers. Back to solar in Myrtle Beach.
Questions
Do I need a permit to install solar panels in Myrtle Beach?
Does Santee Cooper have to approve my system before the City permit?
How long does a Myrtle Beach solar installation take?
What is the notarized letter the City asks for?
Does an oceanfront house in Myrtle Beach need extra approval for solar?
Where should the inverter and battery go in a flood zone?
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