Streamlining the Solar Permitting Process

Switching to renewable energy is a top priority for many organizations, especially when it involves solar energy. This shift often requires major construction and obtaining a solar permit to accommodate the new energy source. While these changes may take some time, the benefit of switching to solar greatly outweighs the costs and effort it takes to adopt. 

Understanding the intricacies of obtaining a solar permit is crucial for compliance and effective project management. This article provides an in-depth guide on everything you need to know about the solar permitting process.

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What is a solar permit?

A solar permit is a document issued by local municipalities allowing individuals or businesses to install solar panels. Solar permits are required in many jurisdictions to ensure solar installations meet local and federal building codes and safety standards.

What you need to submit to receive a solar permit is entirely dependent on the jurisdiction of your project. While requirements vary by jurisdiction, there are four common approvals typically needed to obtain a solar permit:

1. Building Permit: This ensures that your solar panels meet your local building requirements and zoning laws.
2. Electrical Permit: All solar panels must meet the National Elecrical Code (NEC) guidelines as it relates to the installation and wiring of panels. 
3. Structural Permits: Depending on the amount of panels you’re installing and the location of them, you’ll need to identify if the plans are structurally sound and can withstand the local climate.
4. Grid Interconnectivity: Solar grids must be able to connect with the existing electrical infrastructure. Some municipalities will provide documentation on how solar panels can connect with the existing grid. 

Remember, solar permits vary depending on your local jurisdiction. If you’re looking for the exact requirements for your projects, be sure to double check with your local government to identify the requirements.

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The solar permitting process

The process of applying for a solar permit requires many different moving parts, detailed plans, and coordinating with major stakeholders, all while maintaining compliance. To avoid any potential delays in your project, here are a few major steps you can take to receive your solar permit. 

Initial project assessment

The first step to any project is to conduct an assessment of your potential project. This means going through and detailing your location, site analysis, and the feasibility of the panels given all of this information. The initial assessment is crucial for determining the feasibility of your project and is the first step towards securing a solar permit.

To function properly, solar panels require a large amount of sun exposure. This means large swaths of land, or large rooftops are ideal for this kind of project. It’s also necessary for panels to connect with the already existing electrical grid.

The initial project assessment helps to inform the actual viability of the panels in the area, as well as determine the full scope of the project and if any additional construction needs to take place before installation happens. 

The initial project assessment is the perfect time to discuss with your local government what documentation and information you’ll need to apply for a solar permit.

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Preparing your application

During this step, you’ll gather all necessary documents, such as site plans, diagrams, and electrical reports, to support your solar permit application. It’s important to ensure that all of the information within your documents are as accurate as possible to prevent delays.

Using a permit management tool like PermitFlow can help to make the documentation process much easier—all of your documentation can live in one place as a central source of truth. 

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Application review period

The review period will most likely be the longest part of the permit submission process and can vary depending on the complexity of your permit and the availability of the staff reviewing your application. This process can range anywhere from a few weeks to several months. 

Depending on what’s required from your local jurisdiction, this might involve in-person review periods regarding the project, or more consistent follow-ups. It’s important to stay on top of these requests as they arise. By using a tool like PermitFlow, you can keep track of important communications and prevent any potential delays. 

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Permit approval and inspections

Securing your solar permit is just the beginning—your solar installation must also pass inspections to ensure it meets all specifications outlined in your permit documents. This requires regular inspections of the project to ensure that installation and plans are aligning with the documents you provided and local regulations. 

If any issues arise during inspections, it’s important to address them properly to prevent failed inspections and additional delays to your new solar installation. Once all inspections are complete, your new solar system can begin operation.

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Streamlining the solar permitting process

A universal truth in the construction industry is that the permit process is unnecessarily complicated and confusing. Part of this reason is because there’s no uniform permitting experience, and the other is because permits largely depend on your unique project. 

We’ve broken down a few ways you can streamline the solar permitting process:

Work with industry experts

While the solar industry isn’t new, the work that goes into solar is unique to that industry. Solar installation isn’t a DIY project; it requires consultants with extensive experience to navigate the complex solar permit regulations.

Solar experts can also help you identify common hurdles within the process and help to create an efficient permitting process and avoid common pitfalls. 

Leverage permitting technology

Taking advantage of new software technologies can help significantly in streamlining your permitting process—even beyond solar. Permitting software like PermitFlow helps streamline the solar permit process by organizing and tracking all necessary documents and approvals in one place.

Permitting technology helps reduce potential delays when it comes to the permit approval process or inspections. With features like reminders, progress tracking, and communication portals, PermitFlow helps to establish a central database as it relates to your permit applications. 

Standardize and maintain proactive communication

Working on a large team can lead to many challenges, one of which is consistent communication. When working on a large team, it’s important to establish proactive forms of communication and maintain those processes.

To avoid communication breakdowns, consider consolidating all project communications in one central location, such as a permitting software like PermitFlow. This will help to document communications and create a source of truth for every member on your team, so each team member can quickly understand a permit’s status at a glance.

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Navigating the solar permit process

Adopting the hardware for solar energy is the first step to making a greener future. This is why it’s essential to create an efficient permitting process so you can streamline processes, work with solar experts, and leverage the right technology to build your solar panels. 

By efficiently managing the solar permit process, your team can quickly navigate the necessary steps to bring your solar project to life.

Want to streamline your solar permit process? Talk to one of our permitting experts at PermitFlow today.