CRANBERRY TWP — Township supervisors Thursday officially adopted new regulations for wind and solar power for both commercial and residential uses.

The rules come from the Cranberry Plan, the township's long-range plan that identifies renewable energy as a potential benefit to the community and the environment.

For both solar and wind energy to benefit a single resident or business wanting to install facilities to benefit its property only, the property owner will need to get a zoning permit.

Residential or accessory business facilities for solar or wind energy are permitted in all township zoning districts.

Large, commercial wind farms or solar energy facilities will be treated as conditional uses, meaning that these plans will need land development approval from the supervisors.

Large commercial wind and energy facilities are restricted to the Transitional Light Industrial (TLI), Special Growth (SP-1) and Light Industrial (IL) commercially-zoned districts.

The facility may not be bigger than 30 percent of the total acreage. Those wanting to build solar panels or a wind turbine must propose mitigation of the facilities' impacts on surrounding properties and ensure that it complies with current ordinances.

Other standards for the construction include:

• Any such facility must be constructed according to Federal Aviation Administration and state construction code standards.

• Energy transmission lines must be installed underground or placed out of sight.

• No lighting of facilities, unless required by the FAA, is allowed.

• The facilities can contain no advertising.

• They can't be constructed on a tree or near a swimming pool.

• The maximum height would be 50 feet in residential zoning districts and 150 feet in commercial districts. When installed on an existing building, the restriction will be 10 feet higher than the building's highest point.

• The color will be required to be a nonreflective, neutral tone such as white, off-white or gray and any lettering or numbering will be restricted to 5 square feet.

• For principal and industrial use by power companies, solar and wind energy facilities would be permitted by conditional use only in certain commercial zoning districts.

• The facilities also would be required to go through the township's land development process.

• Noise would be restricted to 50 decibels at the property line for nonresidential zoning and 15 decibels at residential property lines.

• For every solar or wind energy facility, a narrative must be provided of the overview of the project, project location, generating capacity, types and heights of facilities and any ancillary facilities associated with it.

The new regulations provide provisions for the decommissioning of commercial solar or wind turbine facilities, including the removal of solar panels and wind turbines, buildings, electrical components and other associated facilities.