The United States is rapidly transitioning to solar energy, but one significant hurdle is slowing the process—permitting delays. While solar technology has made installations more affordable and efficient, the permitting process remains a bottleneck, causing frustration and extended wait times.

Expected approval timelines often fail to align with reality, but recent innovations aim to close this gap.

Understanding Solar Permitting

Solar permitting ensures that installations comply with safety regulations and local building codes. However, the process often takes longer than expected due to multiple steps, including submitting project plans, completing inspections, and obtaining interconnection approval from utility companies.

Reports indicate that delays in permitting, inspection, and interconnection are major obstacles to solar adoption in the U.S. Research on over 200,000 projects shows that despite efforts to streamline approvals, actual timelines often extend by weeks or even months.

Regions with a strong solar market tend to have more efficient processes. In contrast, areas with inconsistent procedures struggle with extended delays, increasing installation costs and slowing the shift to renewable energy.

One Place Solar: Your Partner in Fast Solar Permit Approvals

One Place Solar is a one-stop solution providing solar design and engineering services to solar businesses. Our offerings include:

✅ Preliminary Production Reports
✅ Permit Designs
✅ As-Built Drawings
✅ PE Stamps
✅ Interconnection & Permitting Services
✅ Monitoring & PTO Applications

Our team of trained and certified energy specialists ensures that your solar projects comply with regulations while minimizing delays.

Strategies to Speed Up the Solar Permit Process in the USA

To navigate the permitting process efficiently, consider these key strategies:

1. Understand Local Permitting Rules

Permitting regulations vary across cities, counties, and states. Researching local requirements is crucial, as Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs) enforce specific structural and electrical codes. Working with experts familiar with these regulations can prevent unnecessary delays.

2. Ensure Accurate and Complete Documentation

Incomplete or incorrect paperwork is a common cause of permit delays. To avoid setbacks, make sure all necessary documents are properly prepared, including:

📌 Site Plans & Layout Diagrams – Precision through AutoCAD expertise
📌 Electrical Line Diagrams – Designed by certified electrical engineers
📌 Structural Calculations (if required)
📌 Equipment Specifications & Cut Sheets
📌 Stamped Engineering Approvals (where applicable)

At One Place Solar, we specialize in AHJ-compliant permit designs, ensuring your applications meet all requirements the first time.

3. Leverage Professional Solar Design Services

Hiring an expert solar design team can significantly accelerate the permitting process. One Place Solar provides permit-ready designs with a 98% AHJ approval rate and rapid turnaround times, minimizing delays caused by design changes or missing details.

4. Submit Permits Electronically When Available

Many jurisdictions now offer online submission portals, streamlining the permitting process. Digital submissions allow for quicker document reviews and smoother communication with permitting authorities, reducing approval timelines.

5. Utilize Expedited Permit Services

Partnering with a solar permit service like One Place Solar saves time by ensuring accurate submissions and prompt responses to revision requests. Our team works directly with AHJs nationwide, facilitating quicker approvals.

6. Stay Informed on Permitting Reforms

The solar industry is constantly evolving, with new initiatives automating permit approvals and reducing wait times. Keeping up with these changes allows you to leverage faster permitting solutions when available.

7. Maintain Strong Relationships with AHJs

Regular communication with permitting offices provides insights into specific requirements, helping you submit accurate applications from the start and avoid unnecessary revisions.

These are few applications to standardize and make the solar permitting process efficient.

SolarAPP+: Automating Approvals

The Solar Automated Permit Processing Plus (SolarAPP+) platform, created by NREL, simplifies residential solar permitting by automating approvals for qualifying systems. By standardizing applications, it cuts processing times from weeks to hours, reducing bureaucratic hurdles and expediting installations. However, since it’s not a customer-facing tool, the best action individuals can take is to encourage their communities to adopt it. As of November 2024, SolarAPP+™ has been implemented in 181 communities across the U.S., resulting in over 46,500 permits issued, more than 302,350 kilowatts of solar capacity approved, and approximately 46,500 hours saved in review time.

SolarTRACE: Enhancing Transparency

SolarTRACE serves as a nationwide resource that tracks permitting, inspection, and interconnection timelines. By providing median cycle time data for different jurisdictions, it helps pinpoint inefficiencies and promotes best practices, enabling local governments and installers to refine their processes.

SolSmart: Promoting Best Practices

Backed by the U.S. Department of Energy, SolSmart encourages municipalities to reduce barriers to solar development. Through technical support and an incentive-based designation system, the program motivates communities to implement solar-friendly policies, including more efficient permitting procedures.

Conclusion

Getting solar permits approved faster requires a combination of thorough preparation, professional design services, and strategic submission methods. At One Place Solar, we provide fast, accurate, and AHJ-compliant solar permit designs, helping installers and businesses speed up the approval process.

Need fast solar permit approvals? Contact One Place Solar today and get permit-ready designs in as little as 4 hours!

Call: US: +1 (209) 498-9777 | AUS: +61 489 951 511
Email: info@oneplacesolar.com