Red tape in residential solar permitting

Installing residential solar panels and batteries for energy storage can allow Texas to build a more resilient electric grid, provide financial savings to households and produce clean electricity. Many Texas jurisdictions require permits for the installation of solar panels and batteries – a process intended to ensure that those installations are safe. However, too often, the permitting process is unnecessarily slow, complicated and uncertain, which frustrates the wider deployment of residential solar and battery storage.

Red tape during the permitting and inspection process for residential systems adds costs for consumers who want to install solar panels and/or battery storage on their homes. In the most extreme cases, it can make it difficult for homeowners or business owners to “go solar” at all and may lead consumers to cancel planned projects. In a 2021 national survey, many solar installers reported that they either avoid jurisdictions with onerous requirements or they charge customers a price premium, in some cases of more than 10%.

Cutting unnecessary red tape in local solar and storage permitting, including through the use of proven instant permitting tools, can allow more Texans to reap the benefits of rooftop solar and home batteries, while reducing administrative burdens for local governments.

For this report, we interviewed representatives from 10 companies that install residential solar panels, sometimes with battery storage, to learn about the problems they have encountered with permitting
and inspection in various Texas cities, and how those hurdles have slowed down adoption of residential solar energy and storage. We also reached out to officials in the permitting departments in those cities
for their responses, though we did not always receive a response.

Common problems with the solar permitting process, which raise costs and slow down deployment timeframes for Texas families interested in installing solar panels and battery storage, include:

• Slow and unpredictable permit review timelines that raise costs and make it hard for installers to schedule projects. Data collected by Ohm Analytics, a private firm that gathers data on solar permitting from a variety of sources including local governments and solar installers, show wide variation in permitting timelines for solar projects in Texas. Even in many cities that approve most solar or solar-plus-storage permit applications quickly, some projects remain subject to lengthy delays. For example, in Mesquite, a city of 150,000 east of Dallas, 152 solar project permits in 2024 were approved in a median of three business days, but 10% of permits took 27 days (five weeks) or longer.
• Permit review may involve multiple city staffers, which slows down the permit review process and may make it harder for installers to know where their applications are in the process or who to contact. For example, in Dallas, staff with building, electrical and fire expertise each review applications for solar project permits and do so in sequence rather than at the same time.
• Poor communication from permitting departments aggravates other problems with obtaining a solar installation permit. Communication problems include a lack of clarity about what information a permit application should contain, no information on how many reviewers will be commenting on a permit application, and no contact information for reviewers who have requested revisions.
• Incorrect or inconsistent application of health and safety codes that raises costs and slows permit review. One installer said that his company tries to install each project as if they’re operating in one of their most rigorous jurisdictions, but even that doesn’t ensure smooth sailing through the permitting and inspection process because jurisdictions may have different requirements for similar projects. An additional impact of this inconsistency is that he can’t standardize the equipment and materials he uses because “everybody is asking for something different.”
• Variations in permit application processes between different jurisdictions. Solar installers typically serve homeowners in multiple communities and must navigate the variations in solar photovoltaic system permits in different jurisdictions. Three companies mentioned that they maintain their own proprietary manuals for how to navigate the solar and storage application process in many of the cities where they install projects, which increases their cost of doing business.
• Additional requirements unrelated to health or safety that can increase the cost of or slow down solar installations. For example, in Highland Park no equipment is allowed to be visible from the street, limiting the ability of some homeowners to install solar panels in the direction that will generate the most electricity and deliver the most benefit.

The experience of solar installers in several Texas cities shows the ways in which these common permitting problems can combine to make solar installations challenging and more expensive for homeowners. For example:

• The application process for a residential solar project in Dallas requires the use of two different online portals that are not automatically connected to each other. Once the application is
  submitted, multiple city staffers review the application, doing it one at a time rather than simultaneously. Installers said receiving approval for a permit often takes weeks and that obtaining a permit for solar-plus-storage projects is particularly difficult. One company no longer operates in Dallas to avoid the long timelines associated with the city’s permitting process. Installers stated that receiving approval for a permit often takes weeks. City data show that permits are approved on average more quickly than what installers shared, though third-party data shows that the slowest 10% of projects took five or more weeks to receive approval in the first seven months of 2024.
• One solar company reported the permitting process in Irving is so time consuming that it doesn’t accept any projects in the community, while another company said it turns down 80% of
  requested projects in Irving involving batteries. Irving’s requirements for battery installations are more stringent than those in other communities, according to installers, though the city defends its practices as necessary for protecting health and safety. The city says that its standard turnaround time for residential solar permits is three days, though data from Ohm
  Analytics, which collects data on solar energy permitting, show that 10% of solar-only and solar- plus-battery projects take 34 business days (nearly seven weeks) or longer to receive approval.
  Instant permitting can reduce the variability and complexity of solar permitting – making solar faster to install, cheaper for consumers, and more readily available.
• An instant permit review process requires the solar installer to submit detailed information about its proposed project – system design, equipment specifications, installation plans and
  other pertinent information – to a software platform, which automatically evaluates permit applications to ensure compliance with the relevant building codes and safety standards.
• If the application meets all of the requirements, permit approval is granted immediately. If corrections are needed before approval, instant permitting software can respond as soon as the installer has provided additional or corrected information.
• After the project is installed, it is inspected to ensure compliance with code and safety requirements.

State and local governments should remove unnecessary permitting barriers to residential solar panels and battery storage that do not help to protect health or safety.

• City and county governments that permit solar panels and battery storage should adopt instant permitting and allow remote inspections where appropriate.
  • Local governments can either adopt an instant permitting platform or, if they allow qualified third parties to review permit applications, the third party can utilize an instant
    permitting platform.
  • Once a residential solar project is permitted and constructed, installers should have the option for a remote inspection sufficient to guarantee the safety of the system. The permitting office or a qualified and licensed third party should be able to conduct the inspection, either via photos or recorded videos.
• Other regulatory requirements that can impede residential solar and battery adoption without improving health or safety should also be reconsidered.
  • Permitting fees should have limits that are reasonable and do not impede the development of residential solar.
  • For any given residential solar project, one authority should conduct permitting for all components of the system. Too often, multiple layers of government are involved in reviewing a single project.
  • States, counties, regional governments or building departments in neighboring municipalities should seek to standardize as many processes and requirements for
    residential solar panels and battery storage permitting as possible. This could include the application, required documentation, code requirements, code interpretations and steps to receive a permit.
  • Review of residential solar permit applications should be focused on determining whether the proposed system meets all health and safety requirements of building
    safety codes and not on other concerns, such as the visibility of solar panels from the street.