How to Initiate Solar Permitting Reform in Four Easy Steps

Solar permitting is but one small, easily overlooked piece of the solar installation process. However, because we have upwards of 25,000 local jurisdictions in the country, there are staggering possibilities for variations of local permitting procedures.  This means that permitting costs and filing requirements often vary widely from one jurisdiction to the next, which inevitably drives up costs for solar and creates unintentional barriers to market growth.

To address these challenges, many local jurisdictions around the country have been leading the way to find innovative, collective solutions to streamline solar permitting in a safe and effective way.  In fact, we have highlighted some of their efforts in a 2012 Report titled Sharing Success: Emerging Approaches to Efficient Rooftop Solar Permitting. Nevertheless, there is still so much more to do.  If your jurisdiction has not already done so, now is a perfect time to reduce inefficiencies in the solar permitting process.