A new report card gives Pennsylvania an F grade for how it governs rooftop solar permitting.
PennEnvironment said permitting delays and bureaucratic barriers can add $6,000 to $7,000 to the cost of a typical residential solar energy system, deterring potential adopters.
It’s calling on states, including Pennsylvania, to adopt instant review software and adopt other measures that can ease uncertainty in the permitting process and save time.
The scorecard looked at state policies covering areas such as whether building codes are uniform across the state, whether homeowners associations are allowed to restrict solar adoption, permit fees, and what criteria is used to judge systems. Most zoning and permitting for rooftop solar in Pennsylvania happens at the local level.
Pennsylvania scored 18 out of a possible 100 points. It got positive marks for allowing solar leases and power purchase agreements and for having some standardized building codes.
Shanti Gamper-Rabindran, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh who studies economic, legal, and political barriers and opportunities for energy transition, said streamlining permitting can help bring costs down.
“For most solar rooftops, it’s going to be pretty standard and it’s going to be a small system. So, you don’t necessarily need an incredibly detailed engineering study for each roof,” Gamper-Rabindran said.
The National Laboratory of the Rockies, formerly the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, piloted a permitting software known as Solar Automated Permit Processing Plus (SolarAPP+). Across five permitting authorities and 16 solar contractors, the lab found using the platform reduced permit review times to less than one day and saved an estimated 2,067 staff hours.
PennEnvironment said it’s important to encourage rooftop solar adoption because the energy source “can improve the resiliency of the electrical grid and protect homeowners from blackouts, reduce health-harming pollution from electricity production, and provide financial savings for families.”
Though Pennsylvania does not have a law mandating “instant” permitting, there are other resources for prospective solar adopters and municipalities. Groups such as Pennsylvania Solar Center offer tips for residential users as well as model ordinances for governing solar installation at the local level.
Sharon Pillar, executive director of Pennsylvania Solar Center, said the patchwork of local governments across the commonwealth adds to the soft costs of installing solar panels.
“This is definitely problematic for solar developers who have to learn the rules in every single municipality with each solar installation and there are wildly different permitting and inspection fees in each,” Pillar said.
She added that many small municipalities have been resistant to creating online portals for permitting, and that many places rely on third parties to handle the permits, including setting fees.
Gamper-Rabindran said permitting is one aspect that affects solar power adoption. In Pennsylvania, it’s often the default position that certain types of solar aren’t allowed. That includes community solar — which allows people to subscribe to a nearby array — and “balcony solar,” which are smaller, plug-in arrays that can be used by renters.
“ I think it’s important to kind of turn it around and say the default should be people should be able to adopt solar,” Gamper-Rabindran said.
There have been multiple attempts in the state legislature to allow community solar, but so far it has not passed.
