Every rejection is a full review cycle lost. In DFW, that's roughly 7–14 days the homeowner doesn't have power flowing back to the grid. And the same handful of rejection drivers come up over and over.
This article runs through the most common reasons residential solar permits get kicked back across the DFW metro — by both AHJs (city plan reviewers) and Oncor's interconnection team — with what causes them and what fixes them. The order is roughly by frequency: the items at the top show up in well over half of all rejection correspondence we see.
1. VLLD placement or labeling (Oncor)
What it is. Oncor requires a Visible Lockable Lockable Disconnect between the inverter and the utility meter. Visible from the meter (roughly 10 feet, line of sight), lockable in the open position, labeled as a PV disconnect.
Why it gets rejected. Three patterns:
- The disconnect is behind something — a fence, an HVAC unit, a garage corner — and isn't visible from the meter.
- The "disconnect" is the inverter's internal AC disconnect, not a separate dedicated unit.
- The disconnect doesn't accept a padlock (e.g. some all-in-one combiners advertise "lockable" but don't actually pass the spec).
How to avoid it. Pre-stage the VLLD location on the site walk, not at install time. Photograph the meter and the proposed disconnect in the same frame before submitting eTRACK; if you can see both in one photo from a normal standing height, the reviewer can too.
2. NEC placard placeholder values
What it is. NEC 690.56(C) requires the PV power source placard
to include the actual maximum DC voltage and current. Some
permitting tools generate labels with [MAX PV VOLTAGE] or
[MAX_VOLTAGE_DC] literally printed on them when the source design
didn't supply real values.
Why it gets rejected. Both the AHJ and Oncor inspect placard content closely. A placeholder string is an immediate code-violation flag. It also means the actual numbers were never computed — and the DC max voltage requires the cold-weather-corrected calculation per NEC 690.7, which is non-trivial.
How to avoid it. Compute the NEC 690.7 cold-weather-corrected voltage (modules' Voc × series count × the temperature correction factor for the local 2% record-low) and the NEC 690.8(A) maximum current (Isc × 1.25 × parallel string count) before generating labels. If your tool can't compute these, do it manually and override the value before printing.
3. Missing or unreadable photos in the eTRACK package
What it is. Oncor's photo set must include the meter, the AC disconnect, the main panel showing the backfeed breaker, the placards (close-ups), and the array. All of these need to be readable — the placard close-ups especially.
Why it gets rejected. Photos taken at the end of a long install day are often dim, blurry, or shot at an angle that makes labels unreadable. Sometimes the placards are present but the close-up photo missed them entirely.
How to avoid it. Maintain a per-project photo checklist that the field tech ticks off before leaving the site. Print it on the truck-mounted clipboard if you have to. Photos to capture, every time:
- Meter exterior, with the AC disconnect visible in the same shot.
- AC disconnect close-up showing the lockable provision.
- Main panel interior showing the backfeed breaker and the NEC 705.12 label.
- NEC 690.13, 690.56(C), and 690.12 placards — close-ups, each.
- Full-array shot from a reasonable distance.
- (Battery systems) the battery enclosure and its placards.
4. Inconsistent system size across documents
What it is. The system size on the cover letter is 7.6 kW DC, the one-line diagram says 7.84 kW, and the equipment cut sheets add up to 7.92 kW. The reviewer pauses, the package goes back.
Why it gets rejected. Plan reviewers look for internal consistency as a basic sanity check — when the numbers don't match they don't try to figure out which is right; they kick it back.
How to avoid it. Single source of truth for the design data, and a one-line check that the cover letter, one-line diagram, and equipment list all use the same number. A 1-minute review at package assembly time saves a 10-day cycle.
5. Missing or expired PE seal on structural drawings
What it is. Most DFW AHJs require a Texas-licensed Professional Engineer's seal on structural drawings that attest the roof can support the array. Plano, Frisco, Coppell, and Allen are particularly strict. Some projects also need a stamped electrical drawing.
Why it gets rejected. Three flavors:
- The seal is from a PE licensed in another state.
- The seal is from a Texas PE but the license has expired.
- The drawings are stamped but the structural calculations themselves are wrong (rare but it happens — reviewers will catch obvious errors).
How to avoid it. Verify your PE's TX license is current (searchable on the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors site). Don't accept a stamp that was added 6 months ago without confirming it's still active. If you're a contractor partnering with a PE, ask them to attach a fresh date stamp on every project.
6. HOA approval missing in HOA-governed jurisdictions
What it is. Many DFW cities — especially the suburbs that boomed in the 2000s — are nearly 100% HOA-governed. Plano, Frisco, Allen, McKinney, Coppell, and Flower Mound all have neighborhoods where every home is bound by deed restrictions, and the city won't issue a permit until the HOA has signed off.
Why it gets rejected. Texas Property Code allows HOAs to enforce reasonable aesthetic restrictions on solar (color matching the roof, no ground-mount in front yards, etc.) but they can't outright ban solar. That doesn't matter for the rejection trigger — the city just wants the signed approval letter on file before issuing the permit.
How to avoid it. Submit the HOA approval request early in the process, ideally before the design is even finalized. Most HOA architectural review committees meet monthly; missing a meeting costs 30 days. The HOA letter usually wants:
- The proposed installation location (roof plane).
- Module color and finish.
- Conduit routing — visible vs. concealed.
- A statement that the install complies with state law (Texas Property Code §202.010).
7. Fire access pathway non-compliance (rooftop)
What it is. Most DFW jurisdictions follow IRC fire-access requirements for residential solar: 36" of clear pathway from the ridge to the eave, on at least one side of the roof, plus a 36" ridge setback in some cities. Coppell and a few others enforce a both-sides requirement that's stricter than base IRC.
Why it gets rejected. Array layouts that pack modules edge-to- edge across the whole roof leave the firefighter with nowhere to walk. The reviewer rejects the layout, not the package as a whole — but it requires a re-design.
How to avoid it. Build the pathway requirements into your design template, not as a post-hoc check. For Coppell specifically, design for both-sides-of-ridge clearance from the start.
8. Wrong wind-load classification (structural)
What it is. Texas wind-load varies by region. Tarrant County (Fort Worth, Arlington) uses a 75 mph baseline with a 105 mph 3-second gust. Some lakefront properties trigger Exposure Category D (open water) instead of the common Exposure C (open terrain).
Why it gets rejected. Structural calcs that assume Exposure C when the property is on Lake Lewisville or near Joe Pool Lake will fail review. The reviewer wants to see the exposure category cited explicitly in the PE letter.
How to avoid it. When the project is near significant open water, have the PE explicitly verify Exposure Category D before stamping. This is a 30-second conversation that prevents a 2-week rejection.
9. Equipment not on the AHJ's approved list
What it is. Some DFW jurisdictions maintain a list of approved inverters, optimizers, and modules. Equipment not on the list triggers a more detailed review — sometimes a full UL listing verification.
Why it gets rejected. Newly-released inverter models often aren't on city lists for 6+ months after their UL certification. Also: some lists are kept in a city PDF that hasn't been updated since 2022, and the reviewer just doesn't recognize the model.
How to avoid it. Stick to widely-deployed inverter models (Enphase, SolarEdge, Tesla, SMA) for jurisdictions you don't know well. If you must use a new model, attach the UL 1741 SA listing certificate to the submittal so the reviewer doesn't have to look it up.
10. Multi-county address confusion (Carrollton, Grand Prairie)
What it is. Some DFW cities span multiple counties — Carrollton straddles Dallas, Denton, and Collin; Grand Prairie spans Dallas, Tarrant, and Ellis. The fee schedule and sometimes the inspection process differ by county for the same city.
Why it gets rejected. Permit submitted under the wrong county gets bounced as "incorrect jurisdiction code." Less common, but when it happens it costs a full re-application.
How to avoid it. Check the actual county on the property tax record before submitting. Don't assume from the city.
A pre-submittal checklist
If you do nothing else, run this checklist before every package goes out the door. It catches roughly 80% of the rejections above:
- [ ] System size matches across cover letter, one-line, and equipment list.
- [ ] PE seal is current (TX-licensed, not expired).
- [ ] NEC 690.7 cold-weather-corrected voltage on the 690.56(C) placard. Real number, not a placeholder.
- [ ] NEC 690.8(A) max current on the placard. Real number.
- [ ] Photo set: meter+disconnect, disconnect close-up, main panel with backfeed label, all three placards, full array. Each legible.
- [ ] HOA approval letter on file (when applicable).
- [ ] Fire-access pathway diagram included for all rooftop arrays.
- [ ] VLLD location confirmed visible-from-meter via a single photo.
- [ ] County code matches the actual county for multi-county cities.
A 5-minute review against this list before submitting saves an average of 1.5 weeks per rejected project. Do the math on your monthly volume.
The short version
Permit rejections aren't random. The same dozen issues drive most of them, and they're nearly all the result of small process gaps that compound — a hurried photo, a stale PE stamp, an unverified placard value. Investing 5 minutes per project in a structured pre-submittal review reliably cuts rejection rate in half, which directly compresses time-to-PTO and improves cash flow.
If you're an installer doing 10+ projects a month, codifying that checklist into your operations is one of the highest-ROI moves you can make.