New Illinois bill would make it easier and cheaper to go solar

The Residential Automated Solar Permitting Act (SB2395/HB3265), sponsored by Senator Bill Cunningham and Representative Marcus Evans, would require local governments to adopt instant solar permitting for residential rooftop solar and home battery storage.

Permitting is a critical step in ensuring the safety of rooftop solar installations. But when it is overly bureaucratic and burdensome, it can become a significant obstacle for families trying to put solar panels on their roofs. Even for straightforward projects, it can take days, weeks, or even months to get approval for installation. The additional “soft costs” associated with permitting add $4,100–$4,800 to the average solar system in Illinois. These extra costs push rooftop solar outside of many homeowners’ budgets who otherwise would have been able to choose to go solar and reap the environmental and cost benefits of powering your home with the abundant clean energy from the sun. 

Instant permitting platforms cut down on delay times by performing hundreds of code compliance checks and flagging errors immediately. For a typical installation, if the permit application is complete and meets all requirements, approval is immediate. 

The impacts of implementing instant permitting state-wide are significant. A report from the Brown Climate Solutions Lab found that implementing instant permitting in jurisdictions across Illinois could spur an additional 292,000–303,000 home solar system installations by 2040, which would add 2.5–2.6 gigawatts of clean energy. That means that statewide implementation of instant permitting could add more than twice the power provided by a typical nuclear power plant.  

Our national federation helped pass similar legislation in California in 2022 and Maryland in 2024. Illinois can be the next to take this critical step to fully harness rooftop solar’s potential and keep the state moving towards a clean energy future.