This article has been featured in the March-April issue of the North American Clean Energy Magazine.
The standardization of the solar industry is crucial to its success. With a push towards cleaner, greener energy sources, ensuring a common data standard for all participants will allow the solar industry to achieve its potential, providing benefits to society as a whole.
One way to help standardize data and enable process automation in the solar industry is through the use of Solar Automated Permit Processing Plus. SolarAPP+ is an online permitting platform that helps streamline the permitting process for solar projects. The platform includes a library of standard permit templates that can be used by jurisdictions across the United States.
Improving solar permitting is a collaborative effort. This work is supported by funding from the U.S. Department of Energy; the DOE’s Orange Button Working Group seeks to create a commonly accepted data structure to aid in the development of solar industry applications, in an effort to ease the process of integration through this standardization. NREL is working with a variety of partners to deliver the SolarAPP+ online platform. The platform was created to help address the permitting challenges faced by solar installers and developers, aiming to decrease the amount of time and complexity that inherently exists in the current fractured permitting processes used across thousands of Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs).
To date, SolarAPP+ has been used to streamline the permitting process for thousands of solar installation projects. The platform has also been recognized by the DOE as a Best Practice for Solar Permitting — they are actively promoting and incentivizing adoption through programs such as the SolarAPP+ Prize, which rewards AHJ’s with up to $15,000 to lower the cost of adopting SolarAPP+.
How SolarAPP+ Works
SolarAPP+ provides local governments and AHJs with a standardized permit application portal for receiving and processing information for residential and commercial solar storage systems. The standardizations can be incorporated into the existing processes and procedures currently used by approval authorities. The technology can assist approvers with electronically reviewing the relevant safety and building code compliance requirements. If all checks are in order, authorities can instantly approve applications, lessening the burden of manually reviewing applications.
The app also gives applicants access to a streamlined application submission form that includes all of the required information for a permit application. After an application has been submitted, applicants receive notifications on the status of their application via email or text.
Is SolarAPP+ Mandatory?
Solar Access Act SB 379, which passed on August 24, 2022, mandates the use of SolarAPP+, or a similar type of online permitting tool, for California counties with over 150,000 residents. It is hoped that this legislation will pave the way for more states to introduce similar mandates, in an effort to improve the solar application process countrywide.
In other states, the use of SolarAPP+ is voluntary, but SEIA and NREL encourage its use. SEIA also offers a free SolarAPP+ Training Academy to help jurisdictions and developers learn how to use the platform. In the future, SolarAPP+ aims to be the gold standard when it comes to solar permit approval processes and hopes to achieve 100 percent penetration across every state.
What are the benefits of using SolarAPP+?
Time Saving
The SolarAPP+ platform can save developers time by providing access to a library of pre-approved permit templates. This can help to reduce time spent on the permitting process, from months down to days, in some cases.
Decreased Costs
By using SolarAPP+, developers can avoid having to hire third-party consultants and expediters to manage the solar permit application process. This will help to decrease costs associated with the permitting process.
Increased Efficiency
SolarAPP+ can streamline the permitting process by automating many of the tasks that are typically carried out manually, such as collecting signatures, sending notifications, and generating reports.
Improved Accuracy
SolarAPP+ can help improve the accuracy and avoid delays of solar permits by ensuring that all required information is captured and validated before the permit application is submitted.
Standardization is Critical to the Success of Our National Climate Change Action Plan
The United States has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28% below 2005 levels by 2025, as part of the Paris Climate Agreement. In order to achieve this goal, it is critical that the solar industry is standardized to remove unnecessary roadblocks and red tape, allowing for greater and faster uptake of clean energy solutions.
Solar energy is a key component of our national climate change action plan. It is a clean, renewable resource that can help us to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and meet our climate change goals. SolarAPP+ is an important tool that can help us to achieve these goals adding a level of sophistication and simplicity that has never been seen before at scale.
Partnering with All Stakeholders
In order to achieve its goal of 100 percent penetration across the United States, SolarAPP+ is partnering with all industry stakeholders, including:
- Solar Technology Developers and Manufacturers
- Solar Installers and Contractors
- Utility Companies
- Investor-Owned Utilities (IOUs)
- Electric Cooperatives (co-ops)
- Public Utility Commissions (PUCs)
The Future is SolarAPP+
The solar industry is booming, and is expected to continue to grow exponentially in the coming years. SolarAPP+ is leading the way in simplifying and streamlining the solar permitting process, making it easier than ever for developers to get their projects off the ground. In the future, SolarAPP+ aims to be the go-to platform for all solar permit applications.
The author is Jaclyn Haynes, Marketing Manager at Blu Banyan, a technology consulting firm that specializes in developing custom software solutions for the solar industry using NetSuite- a cloud-based business management platform. We have a team of experienced developers and solar industry experts who are passionate about building innovative applications that make a difference to our world.
