Tag Archives: permitting

SEIA, The Solar Foundataion Attack Permitting Costs Head On

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

With cost being wrung out at every level of the solar installation, whether it’s module, inverter and racking prices, installation labor and even operations-and-maintenance. Yet the stubborn issue of exorbitant soft costs continues to plague the industry and keep prices artificially high.

Numerous studies have been done to determine the best way to bring those costs down, but they still remain high – at least until the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and The Solar Foundation (TSF) decided to do something about them.

To that end, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and The Solar Foundation today are unveiling the Solar Automated Permit Processing (SolarAPP) initiative, which will streamline permitting and slash the cost of solar installations.

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SEIA and TSF research suggest the permitting and inspection process costs approximately $1.00/watt – nearly $7,000 in direct and indirect costs – for a typical residential solar electricity system. In addition to reducing the expense of solar installations, SolarAPP improves the efficiency of going solar by creating a rules-based, automated permitting and inspection process.

“The goal is to make solar permitting more straightforward, and more routine, while at the same time maintaining the safety and reliability that U.S. solar projects are known for,” said SEIA’s president and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper. “SolarAPP will cut unnecessary red tape, while saving Americans thousands of dollars. By making the process of going solar more efficient, both our companies and their customers win.”

The multi-tiered plan proposes the following reforms:

  • A safety and skills training and certification program that allows residential and small commercial solar and battery storage installers to attest that their projects are compliant with applicable codes, laws, and industry practices, thus eliminating the need for a traditional multi-step permitting process;
  • A simple, standardized online platform that will be provided to local governments at no cost, to “register” and automatically screen qualifying systems for local government authorities;
  • A list of established equipment standards and/or certified equipment for solar and storage projects installed through the proposed process;
  • The creation, or refinement, of system design standards for qualifying solar projects;
  • A model instantaneous permitting regime for home and small-commercial solar and battery storage systems installed by certified installers and contractors;
  • A program administrator to oversee and implement the plan, including providing technical assistance to state and local jurisdictions and utilities.

“An automated solar permitting process will reduce unnecessary costs and give Americans more freedom to choose how they meet their energy needs.” said Andrea Luecke, president and executive director at The Solar Foundation. “With this plan, we have a clear path forward to make solar installations even more affordable and widespread.”

The solar industry is working with stakeholders across the industry and government, seeking feedback on SolarAPP.

“Reforming the solar and battery permitting process is one of the most significant steps our country can take to making solar more affordable for all,” said Lynn Jurich, CEO of Sunrun. “There is a patchwork of inconsistent permitting procedures and standards across the U.S. and our customers pay the high costs of navigating this system. We have an opportunity to help the industry invest in a million more solar roofs over the next 5 years from the savings by making the permitting process faster, while ensuring safety and reliability for all.”

More:

Instant Solar Permitting, The Most Important Issue Facing Solar? (Podcast With Andrew Birch)

Why Solar Permitting Matters And What You Can Do To Help: A Discussion With SEIA’s Abigail Ross Hopper (Q&A)

Why Solar Permitting Matters And What You Can Do To Help: A Discussion With SEIA’s Abigail Ross Hopper

permitting

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

At the beginning of June, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) co-hosted a meeting in San Francisco, the purpose of which was to find ways to reduce extra costs associated with going solar. These costs, known as soft costs, include the cost of permitting, inspections, customer acquisition and other issues. SolarWakeup caught up with SEIA’s President and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper to discuss how the meeting went and what the next steps will be.

SolarWakeup: What was the purpose of this first meeting?

Abigail Ross Hopper (ARH): This was an introductory meeting, and as such, we think we did a nice job of laying the issues on the table. The next step broadly will be to identify concrete solutions, and determine specifically what it’s going to take to dramatically reduce soft costs. We see this as both a real and a critically important opportunity for the industry.

SWup: Why is the issue of permitting so important to the industry?

ARH: The process to design, permit, inspect and interconnect is much more burdensome in the United States than it is in other developed economies. Inconsistent interpretations of the rules (which can be national, regional, and local) from jurisdiction to jurisdiction makes the process inefficient and costly for both solar companies and permitting offices while also leading to customer frustration during a lengthy permitting process. That customer frustration can lead to contract cancelation, meaning all the time and money spent on such customers is lost and must be made up on systems that are completed. All in all, this contributes to a typical residential PV system in the U.S. costing about twice as much as a typical system in Australia. The current permitting and inspection process exists to ensure the safe installation of the system but there is a better, more effective way.

SWup: How can the industry participate?

ARH: Several organizations and companies, including Sunrun, Mosaic, SEIA and The Solar Foundation (TSF), are co-leading an effort, in collaboration with other companies and organizations, to develop a plan to thoughtfully streamline the process in the U.S. while maintaining high safety and quality of work standards. SEIA will build on the expertise and success of its Codes & Standards work and TSF will build off the work of its SolSmart program. Industry can participate and shape the campaign by joining SEIA and learning about and espousing to cities the successes of SolSmart.

SWup: What conclusions were reached at the meeting?

ARH: The participants are continuing discussions to develop and finalize an aggressive plan of action. Organizations and companies have seen a clear need to address this problem and have made commitments to work on this to reduce soft costs. More details to come soon.

SWup: What affect do you see these discussions having on the segment?

ARH: This is about making solar more affordable. More affordable means more accessible to more Americans and businesses. Cutting deadweight loss and unnecessary steps and costs benefit everyone.

SWup: What is the next step?

ARH: We’re continuing to build the coalition and assess what it is going to take to do this right. But real support in resources and funding from the industry will be crucial.

SWup: What policy prescriptions at the federal or state level can help move the needle on this?

ARH: This issue does not fall neatly into federal or state policy lines but there are opportunities to engage at national, state and local levels. All will be necessary in the end.

For more background on the permitting initiative outlined by Abby, you can catch Yann’s interview with Andrew Birch