Automated permitting turns multiple back-and-forth processes into a “one- to two-page digital form,” Birch said. Code standards groups like Underwriters Laboratories and the International Code Council have signed off on SolarAPP+, and similar automated platforms from startups and from city permitting departments are now providing similar same-day options.
The advantages of instant permitting are so great, Cinnamon said, that he’s stopped doing projects in cities and counties that don’t offer some form of it. With less than six months to finish projects that can secure tax credits, “we don’t have the time” to spend elsewhere, he said.
The next step is to expand instant permitting from hundreds to thousands of cities and counties by taking on statewide permitting reforms, said Nick Josefowitz, CEO of Permit Power, a nonprofit advocacy group.
Reform looks different in every state. California set mandates for cities and counties to use instant permitting, while Texas and Florida required cities and counties to allow licensed and credentialed third parties to issue permits and conduct inspections on homeowners’ behalf. Colorado’s law backed off on mandates but offered incentives for local authorities to deploy instant permitting, while New Jersey’s law would empower a state agency to set up instant permitting for cities and counties to use.
Lowering permitting costs can allow solar installers to cut their prices, which increases their business, spurs more competition, and gives households more options, Josefowitz said. A series of studies this year from Brown University’s Climate Solutions Lab and the Greenhouse Institute found that streamlined and instant permitting in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, and Texas could result in an additional 2 million home solar installations between now and 2030, saving households a collective $100 billion.
The results are good not just for households and solar installers but for cash-strapped municipalities, said Elowyn Corby, mid-Atlantic regional director for nonprofit group Vote Solar, which advocated for New Jersey’s newly passed reform bill.
“When you put the onus on municipalities to process these permit applications, that’s an enormous drain on their resources as well, especially in lower-income communities where there isn’t as much municipal infrastructure,” she said. “We’re hoping this brings capacity back to local governments.”
Streamlining utility interconnection processes
Permits aren’t the only solar roadblocks. Utilities also need to approve solar and battery systems at homes connected to their grids before they’re allowed to be turned on. Solar installers have long complained that slow or costly interconnection processes are a significant drag on their bottom lines.
“I’ve heard from some of our installers — and some of the bigger ones — that the interconnection approval process is more of a challenge and a bigger cost than the permitting side,” said Ravi Mikkelsen, CEO of Atmos Financial, a financial technology company that connects lenders with solar installers and customers. “Some utilities are better than others, but across the board, this is a major issue.”
A lack of state regulator oversight for interconnection policies complicates efforts at reform, Josefowitz said.
Regulators in some states like California set rules for all regulated utilities, but other state regulators don’t. Even those that have set statewide guidelines for utilities have been slow to adopt rules that require them to adopt more streamlined processes or take the latest technology advances into account. A 2023 ranking from Vote Solar and the nonprofit Interstate Renewable Energy Council assessed state adoption of interconnection “best practices.” The groups gave only New Mexico an A grade and six other states B grades, while marking 13 with an F for lacking any statewide standards.
“We need [regulator] rules about when projects can be fast-tracked, what types of systems when and where can be automated and approved by software,” Josefowitz said.
Extreme amounts of rooftop solar can cause problems on power grids designed to carry electrons from big substations to customers.
“But batteries totally change the game on this,” he said, enabling homes to store solar power when utility grids don’t need it and release it when they’re in short supply.
That’s why solar companies ranging from nationwide players like Sunrun to regional and local installers are recasting their business approach to include becoming “virtual power plant” providers — active providers of energy and grid resources that help augment the resources that utilities can bring to bear.
Opportunities to earn money for these services are relatively scarce today. But with Republicans in Congress and the Trump administration making it much more expensive and difficult to build more renewable energy to meet the growing demand for electricity, utilities may be well advised to reduce the barriers to installing solar and batteries that can provide it, Mikkelsen pointed out.
“At $2 a watt, you can bring down the cost of your power, and you can save money on electrification,” he said. But also, “your battery can be used economically much more frequently and becomes super-valuable to the grid. You want to unlock the power of batteries? You fill them with cheaper electrons.”
