September 30 is the deadline for 210 California cities and counties to adopt streamlined permitting to make going solar easier and cheaper. New interactive map is available to help track progress.

SACRAMENTO— With the September 30th deadline fast approaching for California’s largest cities and counties to lower the cost of going solar by switching to an automated streamlined permitting process, solar advocates released an interactive map to help Californians see local progress. 

Using the color-coded map, Californians can see the status of their city’s or county’s efforts to implement streamlined permitting in order to cut red tape and lower consumer costs and delays when going solar. The map also provides information on the required compliance dates for each jurisdiction based on state law. 

The Solar Access Act (Senate Bill 379–Wiener), requiring instant and online streamlined permitting for residential solar and storage systems, was signed into law by Governor Newsom in September of 2022 to help make it easier and more affordable for Californians to go solar. Cities and counties can apply for grant funding through the CalAPP program administered by the California Energy Commission to help cover costs for implementing the new permitting process; the deadline to apply for funds was extended to May 1, 2024 and is on a first-come, first-served basis for all remaining funds.

SolarAPP+, developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) of the Department of Energy, is one of the easiest, one-stop solutions for building departments to comply with the law. It is free for local governments to use and available to all jurisdictions in California and across the country. There are other software products also available to cities and counties throughout the state to comply with streamlined permitting requirements, such as Symbium. In addition to using currently available software programs, cities and counties can also comply with the Solar Access Act by developing their own online, instant, streamlined permitting system. 

Streamlined permitting software asks the contractor a series of questions to verify the system’s design is up to code and then issues a permit automatically for installation to begin. 

It is twice as expensive to go solar in California than many other developed places, in part, because of costs associated with permitting and interconnection with utilities. On average, it takes 13 to 19 days for California building departments to issue a permit, and it is not uncommon for wait times to take 60 or more days. The result is months of delays, thousands of dollars added to solar projects that are passed along to customers, and fewer homes going solar that otherwise would.

“California cannot meet its clean energy goals and bring rooftop solar and solar batteries to more people without local cities and counties streamlining their rooftop solar permitting process,” said Cailey Underhill, Advocacy & Development Director of Solar Rights Alliance. “It is one of the biggest obstacles to solar growth.” 

Streamlined permitting has the potential to dramatically bring down the cost of solar and storage in California by cutting red tape around permitting without sacrificing safety. All solar systems, even those permitted through automated software, must also pass a final inspection. Studies show that streamlined permits pass inspection with rates at, or better, than traditional permitting processes, many of which require the contractor to drive paper submittals to the building department and stand in line to submit the permit. 

“It is time to come up to the 21st century when it comes to solar permitting,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, Executive Director of the California Solar & Storage Association (CALSSA). “Modernizing solar permitting processes and cutting red tape is a no-brainer for California.” 

“Solar contractors and local permitting authorities in communities from Chula Vista to Fresno to Redding are successfully using SolarAPP+ to cut down the review period for residential solar installations, and more communities across the state can take advantage of this platform,” said Jeff Marootian, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. “The software eases the entire process without sacrificing quality and safety, and in some cases, permits are issued within 15 minutes of entering them into the automated system. Not only does this drastically reduce review hours, backlogs, and associated costs, it allows for homeowners to go solar faster. This is critical to our nation’s clean energy goals, including making solar the cheapest source of electricity in the United States in the next decade."

CALSSA estimates that the broad adoption of automated permitting would lower the cost of a typical home solar system by $1,200 to $2,600, and for the typical solar and storage system by $2,300 to $5,100. 

Cities with more than 50,000 residents and counties with more than 150,000 residents must comply with the Solar Access Act by September 30, 2023. Cities with 50,000 or fewer residents have until September 2024 to comply. Cities with fewer than 5,000 residents and counties with fewer than 150,000 residents are exempt altogether. Still, many exempt jurisdictions have adopted automated permitting anyway.