Solar permits

There are two separate approvals and people confuse them constantly. The permit comes from your city or county building department and covers structural and electrical code compliance, ending in a physical inspection. The interconnection agreement comes from your utility and ends in permission to operate. You should not switch the system on before both are done.

Some jurisdictions now use SolarAPP+, a free automated permitting platform developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. It runs an automated code-compliance check on the submitted design and can issue a permit immediately when the project passes, instead of waiting for manual plan review. Adoption is city-by-city — the US Department of Energy maintains a page on the program and which jurisdictions use it.

We are not going to tell you what your local rules are, because they genuinely differ from one town to the next. Call your building department and ask three questions: which permits a residential rooftop PV system needs, what the fees are, and whether they accept SolarAPP+. Then ask your utility for its interconnection application and its current queue time.

How to choose

Find your AHJ before you sign

Search your city or county name plus "building department solar permit." Their published checklist tells you what your installer must produce.

Ask if your jurisdiction uses SolarAPP+

Where it is adopted, compliant projects get an instant permit rather than waiting for manual plan review.

Confirm permits and fees are in the contract price

Some contracts pass permit fees through at cost. Know which yours does.

Get the interconnection timeline from the utility, not the salesperson

Utility queues are the most common cause of a system sitting dark for weeks after installation.

Check HOA and historic-district rules separately

Several states limit an HOA's ability to block solar, but the specifics are state law. Ask your HOA for its written policy and check your state's rules.