California — In an effort to spur the growth of rooftop solar, the California Energy Commission has just announced new grants to help communities automate the approval of residential solar energy permits, with the total of $18.9 million now reaching a whopping 334 cities and counties. Experts expect the move to increase the speed of installations, lower costs, and accelerate solar adoption statewide.

Roughly 10 percent of properties in California have solar, a figure that needs to grow rapidly for the state to meet its clean energy goals. One of the biggest obstacles to completing more solar projects is permitting. Properties that install rooftop solar first need to receive a permit from the local building department. Outdated and inefficient permitting requirements in many areas combined with staffing shortages can add months of delays and thousands of dollars to solar projects. In many cases, property owners cancel the project when permitting becomes too cumbersome or expensive. Building officials who want to improve solar permitting frequently lack the resources to do so.

The Commission’s California Automated Permit Processing Program (CalAPP), which was established by the state legislature in 2021 and launched in 2022, provides cities and counties with the tools to remove these permitting obstacles. CalAPP provides grants and technical assistance to cities and counties automating permitting for residential solar systems and battery systems, allowing contractors to receive permits instantly. CalAPP closed applications on June 30, 2024, and the Commission announced the final recipients in early July.

“We are thrilled to be able to disburse funds to over 330 cities and counties across California to make it easier for residents to go solar,” said David Hochschild, Chair of the California Energy Commission. “CalAPP is already helping to install more solar in California and is a win for residents, building departments, solar businesses, and our environment.”

“Automating permitting is key to eliminating barriers to residential rooftop solar and energy storage installations,” said Ben Davis, Co-Founder and Chief of Policy at Permit Power, a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to speeding installation of residential clean energy products, including solar panels. “The easier it is to get a permit, the more solar we will see on roofs and the more batteries we will see in garages.”

“Permitting hassles are an unnecessary deterrent to families going solar in California, but the CalAPP program which aims to make automated permitting a reality statewide is an obvious solution,” said Dara Yung, Permitting Director for the California Solar & Storage Association.

Since the launch of the CalAPP program, California has gone one step further in its commitment to faster and cheaper rooftop solar installations by passing legislation that requires local governments to automate residential solar and storage permitting. June 30 was the deadline by which large cities and counties needed to comply. The Energy Commission has shared compliance, as reported by cities and counties, online.

"Streamlining rooftop solar and storage permitting in accordance with the law cuts unnecessary red tape, making it easier for residents to go solar," said Cailey Underhill, Advocacy & Development Director with Solar Rights Alliance. "Many residents have asked their local elected officials to take action, and it's heartening to see these cities listen to their constituents and take this first step to comply with the law."

“Every rooftop without solar is a lost opportunity to combat climate change, cut energy costs, strengthen our grid, and transition to fully electric neighborhoods,” said Laura Deehan, State Director for Environment California. “Red tape at building departments is the last thing we need getting in the way of homes making the transition to solar.”

Cities and counties can automate solar permitting by deploying free software from the federal Department of Energy called SolarAPP+, software from a Silicon Valley tech company called Symbium, or their homegrown software. The most common method for cities and counties to automate permitting is by adopting SolarAPP+, a software platform developed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in collaboration with industry and building safety officials. SolarAPP+ meets the requirements of California’s automated permitting legislation and is cutting down permitting timelines dramatically. In 2023, SolarAPP+ saved 15,400 hours of staff time on solar permitting projects.