San Francisco supervisor calls on State to streamline permitting for residential rooftop solar panels and battery storage

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution authored by Supervisor Rafael  Mandelman to support state action to streamline permitting for residential solar energy systems. 

SAN FRANCISCO — Today the Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution supporting  California State Senate Bill 379 (Wiener), the Solar Access Act. 

The bill would require cities and counties to adopt an online instant permitting system, such as  SolarAPP+, to allow residents to instantly obtain a permit for simple residential solar and solar-plus storage systems in real time. SolarAPP+ is an automated permitting software developed by the  National Renewable Energy Laboratory and funded by the US Department of Energy to provide an  alternative to expensive and time intensive residential solar and energy storage permitting processes.  Currently, local permitting processes are often time-consuming and costly, including in San  Francisco, where approvals for some solar systems can take two weeks or much longer in some  cases. 

One San Francisco homeowner seeking to install a solar array and battery storage system shared their  recent experience: “It took more than two and a half years to resolve a permitting issue in San  Francisco. Due to changing requirements, I became subject to an incredibly complicated path to  approval for my solar and storage system, which we originally decided to do because of our firm  belief in renewable energy. This resulted in countless meetings, phone calls, and emails to try to  understand what was needed of me. And after working hard to comply with all requirements, the cost  to move forward continued to stack up exponentially, which made me wonder if this was all  worthwhile. Having a streamlined permitting system would have saved me a lot of hassle, grief, time  and money.” 

“This feels like one more area where San Francisco just cannot get out of its own way,” said  Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who authored the resolution, noting that San Francisco’s Climate  Action Plan sets a goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2040. “Residential rooftop solar is an  important part of meeting our climate action goals, while also making our city more resilient in the  face of more frequent power outages due to wildfires and other increasingly common extreme  weather events. We can’t afford to let bureaucratic delays get in the way of our clean energy and  climate resilience goals.”

Automated solar permitting systems have already been implemented in California jurisdictions  including San Jose, Los Angeles, Alameda and Sonoma Counties, Pleasant Hill, Stockton, and  others. SB 379 seeks to expand access to instant solar permitting to residential rooftop solar and

battery storage customers statewide. By making it easier for more Californians to go solar and add  energy storage, the state can reduce carbon emissions, increase resilience to wildfires and public  safety power shutoffs, and increase job opportunities in all communities. 

With $20 million funding secured in the Governor’s 2021 budget, jurisdictions can apply for grants  to support the staff time needed to implement SolarAPP+ or another automated permitting system.  SB 379 will support the adoption of tools like SolarAPP+, drive down the cost of solar and solar plus-storage systems and make it more accessible to Californians. 

"By cutting red tape and high costs at the building department, SolarAPP+ will bring solar to more  San Franciscans," said Igor Tregub, Senior Policy Advisor at the California Solar and Storage  Association. “Already, rooftop solar is growing fastest in working-class and middle-class  communities, and SolarAPP+ will strengthen this trend."

“This is a great first step to bringing automated solar permitting to San Francisco,” said Senator Scott  Wiener. “The City has consistently set a high standard for climate forward policies, and it’s time for  us to catch up to cities like San Jose and Stockton that have streamlined their solar permit approvals.  Thank you to Supervisor Mandelman for leading on this important issue.” Senator Scott Wiener

“Automated solar permitting will save people time and money, and supercharge the adoption of  rooftop solar” said Nick Josefowitz, Chief Policy Officer of SPUR, one of the organizations co sponsoring SB 379. “If all jurisdictions were to adopt automated solar permitting for simple  residential rooftop systems, we estimate Californians will save $7.5 billion in unnecessary costs over  the next decade.”

“The latest IPCC report released this week urges immediate action on climate at all levels, making  bills like Sen. Wiener's SB-379 Solar Access Act more crucial than ever," said Laura Deehan, State  Director for Environment California. "Today's action by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors  brings us one step closer to getting this bill passed and making rooftop solar more accessible for all."

District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, along with Supervisors Ahsha Safai, Gordon Mar, and  Myrna Melgar, introduced this resolution on March 22nd, and the Board of Supervisors voted  unanimously to adopt it on April 5th. In January, SB 379 passed out of the Senate with a bipartisan  31 to 1 vote. It will soon be headed to the Assembly to be heard in committee. 

New Solutions Toolkit Guides Regulators, Utilities in Improving Energy Storage Interconnection

Energy storage has a unique and pivotal role to play in the transition to a low-carbon economy because it can help the electric grid accommodate more renewable energy. However, a number of barriers currently impede the process of connecting energy storage systems to the distribution grid. A new suite of actionable recommendations for regulators and utilities, launched today by a team of leading industry players, aims to change that. 

The Toolkit and Guidance for the Interconnection of Energy Storage and Solar-Plus-Storage provides vetted, consensus-based solutions to eight regulatory and technical barriers to the interconnection of energy storage and solar-plus-storage systems to the distribution grid. These recommendations are based on over a year of research and analysis by utility and industry experts. The Toolkit also includes model language that utility regulators can use to update state interconnection rules to reduce the costs and time to safely interconnect energy storage and solar-plus-storage systems. The solutions are nationally applicable and can be applied in diverse states and markets across the U.S.

Adoption of these recommended solutions can have a significant impact on how many distributed energy resources (DERs), like residential and commercial solar PV systems, can be added to the grid. For example, original research for the Toolkit found that when energy storage is used to control the export of energy from DERs, the grid can host more DER capacity. In the most pronounced cases, modeling and simulation research found that using storage to limit DER export can double available DER capacity on a circuit! 

The Toolkit is the result of a multi-year project called “BATRIES” (Building a Technically Reliable Interconnection Evolution for Storage), supported by a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office. The project team is led by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) and includes the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the California Solar & Storage Association (CALSSA), utilities New Hampshire Electric Cooperative Inc. (NHEC) and PacifiCorp, and law firm Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger, LLP (SMW). 

“By modernizing the rules that govern the interconnection of energy storage systems, regulators and utilities can enable significantly more renewable energy on the distribution grid—in some cases as much as double the capacity,” said Larry Sherwood, IREC President and CEO. “They can also make the interconnection process faster, predictable, and less costly for applicants. These changes are urgently needed as more and more states target bold climate and clean energy goals; fortunately, the Toolkit provides regulators with actionable and ready-to-implement guidance.”

Energy storage deployment is growing and interconnection rules have, for the most part, not yet been updated to reflect best practices on how they should be reviewed in the interconnection process. For example, ESS is unique from other DERs like solar and wind, because it can control how much energy is sent to the grid at different times. Interconnection rules historically have not recognized how storage operates differently from other electricity generators, leading to review processes that may be more likely to reject an interconnection request or require grid upgrades that may not be necessary. The Toolkit solutions address critical storage interconnection issues, including (but not limited to) how to safely and reliably address inadvertent export and solutions for interconnecting limited- and non-exporting systems. 

“As the industry increases deployment of variable renewable energy sources to meet state, national and international climate targets, they’ll need to ensure sufficient energy storage and grid reliability,” said Rob Chapman, EPRI Senior Vice President of Energy Delivery and Customer Solutions. “This toolkit provides key guidance and offers potential solutions to assist regulators and energy stakeholders as they address interconnection challenges throughout the clean energy transition.”

“If we're able to more efficiently connect energy storage to the grid, costs will plummet, making solar-plus-storage systems more affordable and accessible to families and businesses,” said Jeremiah Miller, Director of Storage Markets and Policy at the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). "This project will help us speed interconnection times and make it easier to connect solar-plus-storage systems of all sizes to the grid. By 2023, nearly one in four distributed generation solar systems could be paired with energy storage."

“Problems with interconnection for energy storage systems, both big and small, are on the rise in California,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, Executive Director of the California Solar & Storage Association (CALSSA). “Every policy maker and regulator who cares about energy reliability and the rapid deployment of clean energy solutions should pay attention to this toolkit today.”

“New Hampshire Electric Cooperative appreciates the opportunity to contribute in the important work of this study. Electric cooperatives across the country will benefit from the insight provided by the Toolkit,” said David Erickson, NHEC Director of Access and Distributed Resources. “We believe that the concerns of the cooperative community are represented in the Toolkit and that it will help make the benefits of storage and solar technologies accessible and affordable to more of our members.” 

The Toolkit can be accessed at https://energystorageinterconnection.org/. Over the coming year, IREC and partners will conduct extensive training and educational outreach to drive adoption of the solutions across the country. Parties interested in receiving training or more information on the Toolkit can contact the partner team via the Toolkit website or sign up for an informational webinar on Tuesday, April 26, 2022 from noon-1pm Eastern Time here.

About IREC: The Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) builds the foundation for rapid adoption of clean energy and energy efficiency to benefit people, the economy and our planet. IREC develops and advances the regulatory reforms, technical standards, and workforce solutions needed to enable the streamlined integration of clean, distributed energy resources. Learn more at www.irecusa.org. 

The City of San Ramon Has Launched SolarAPP+

City of San Ramon – City staff have implemented an expedited process for photovoltaic/solar electric contractors. SolarAPP+, short for Solar Automated Permit Processing, is an online web portal that automates plan review and permits issuing process to qualified contractors or individuals to install code-compliant residential photovoltaic (PV) systems. Based on model building, electrical, and fire codes, SolarAPP automatically performs a compliance check based on inputs supplied by the contractor to ensure the proposed system is safe and code compliant. Installation practices, workmanship, and adherence to the approved design are then through the inspection process. SolarAPP+ information is available on the City’s website at this link.

San Ramon participated in a pilot program to test the expedited plan check, permit issuance and inspection processes and created an  option with the EnerGov online permit system to approve and issue SolarAPP+ permit types.  Staff participated in the pilot program by completing plan reviews on standard plan type applications and the SolarAPP+ checklist type applications. All plan checks confirmed the same information on plan set submittals and checklist submittals.  Inspection staff performed inspection on solar systems using approved plans and the checklist and found the checklist option to have accurate information and similar inspection times to complete.

Since July 1, 2021, 602 residential rooftop permits and  176 SolarAPP+ residential rooftop permits were issued. Staff expects to issue 1200 solar system permits each year and expect time savings as a result of the SolarAPP+. San Ramon is the 6th city in California to implement the SolarAPP+ process and 8th nationwide.

The SolarAPP+ project was created with grant funding from the Department of Energy (DOE) and is managed collaboratively by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and UL with oversight provided by the SolarAPP+ Foundation. NREL and UL co-manage the software development, outreach, education, and local jurisdiction onboarding for SolarAPP+.

San Ramon City staff will continue to test updates and improvements to the SolarAPP+ program by checking and inspecting solar systems for compliance with code updates, and checking and inspecting systems with battery installations and roof replacement permits with integrated roofing materials.

The City of Stockton Has Launched SolarAPP+

New Permitting Tool for Residential Solar Rooftop Systems 

Increasing Speed and Lowering Cost of Solar Installations 

 STOCKTON, Calif. – The City of Stockton Community Development Department has launched SolarAPP+, an automated application for licensed contractors and self-service permitting of new residential rooftop solar systems. SolarAPP+ lowers the cost and expedites solar installations for the hundreds of Stockton property owners investing in generating renewable and sustainable energy each month. 

“This technology makes sense for residential solar installations, which are standard from project to project” said City Manager Harry Black. “Solar providers that have worked with us on thousands of installations participated with the City and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory on a pilot program, which has been a tremendous success for everyone involved. We look forward to making this process part of our daily operations, saving time and money for property owners, contractors and the City.” 

SolarAPP+ integrates with the City of Stockton’s existing permitting system and software, automating the plan review and permit approval process and significantly reducing over-the-counter workload and permitting time from three or four days to a one-day, online process. Stockton has been the highest volume user to pilot with SolarAPP+. Contractor reviews report ease of use and seamless integration with the City’s permitting system. City of Stockton News Release SolarAPP+ Thursday, January 27, 2022 Page 2 of 2 

“A dedicated webpage and online instructions walk the applicant through the entire process and can be used for the majority of residential, roof-mounted, retrofit photovoltaic systems,” shared Community Development Deputy Director John Schweigerdt. “Once the application is completed, applicants can make payments online, print documents, check status, or even make changes using SolarAPP+, keeping projects moving and contractors working, not waiting around for approvals and paper permits. Nearly 25 percent of the permits we issue are for solar, so this level of automation improves customer service for all of our customers – a huge win for everyone.” 

Solar systems reduce greenhouse gas emissions and are resilient to fluctuations in power availability for those that remain on the grid. The number of systems is projected to dramatically increase as more customers choose to invest in savings and renewable energy sources that help address issues related to climate change. 

To review the step-by-step process and requirements, visit www.stocktonca.gov/solarapp or contact the City of Stockton Permit Center, Building and Life Safety Division, at (209) 937-8561.