Comments on: America! Cast Off The Shackles Of Mandatory Permitting For Rooftop Solar!

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 02:46:00 +0000

That seems to be Rhone Resch’s #1 agenda item according to his statements during the BNEF press conference last week. No surprise. Hope they can make quick progress.

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 02:41:00 +0000

Right, but I think it will happen.

Solar installing is becoming a larger and larger industry. We recently heard about a very large roofing company getting into the solar business.

Large companies are able to get the attention of the local people who write regulations. As political clout increases noise will be made at the federal and state level and “sample regulations” will be sent down to local governments. I’m of the impression that these suggestions are generally adopted.

I would imagine that the solar industry agency (agencies) are working on this. Something you might check through your resources, Zach?

And you might want to check to see if they have contacted environmental groups to get their assistance in pressuring the system.

This would seem to be a rather basic lobbying issue. Getting paperwork/permit costs down could make a tremendous difference in getting panels hooked to the Sun.

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 01:57:00 +0000

I meant that it’s a big challenge because these regulations are not set nationally but on local and state levels. Have to get them changed all over the place, and of course have to battle bureaucratic inertia to get that done.

By: Otis11

Otis11 — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 22:26:00 +0000

I understand it’s a battle – but if it just got media attention I can’t imagine anyone opposing it unless they are either heavily invested in the FF industry or they work for/are sponsored by a FF company…

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 20:57:00 +0000

It has, but it’s a beast & a half to battle. But we really need to put the pressure on here — this is a larger & larger % of solar costs in the US.

By: Janine Westlund

Janine Westlund — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 05:37:00 +0000

Licensed installers was my thought exactly. There’s no reason to involve an architect or engineer for small, specialized projects when licensed installers can do it for a portion of the price. I also agree about having a building inspector take a look before flipping the switch. Installers should be required to keep their calcs on file for at least 5 years. All new homes should be built “solar-ready” to eliminate expensive retroactive structural work down the road.

By: Ronald Brakels

Ronald Brakels — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 22:47:00 +0000

While most people can install solar without a hitch, I’ve read about people around here who’ve had local Councils make their life difficult, either because because of heritage requirements or simply because they happened to have a flat roof and so logically wanted to install angled solar panels. For the most part there is no need for Councils to be such a pain. If a local council feels the need to keep an area or individual houses solar free for some reason, well there are plenty of other buildings around that could use solar. Councils should offer the option of installing a similar amount of solar capacity on another building, perhaps a school or council building, and give people a return similar to what they would have received if it had been installed on their own roof. In fact, maybe Councils should be required to give this option if they block an installaton. In fact, if they were smart they might build the solar capacity in remote parts of grid connected Australia where where providing a kilowatt-hour of grid power can apparently cost over 50 cents due to high transmission costs.

By: Stan Stein

Stan Stein — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 14:28:00 +0000

They do…..no utility company will allow net metering unless a certified company installed the system. They require all the contractor credibility paperwork before issueing tax credits too…I’m think there are some who slip through the cracks though, just like everything else.
I have been in this business for 2 years lately, and 5 yrs in the late 70s with solar hot water concentrators (parabolic trough systems)….there is much more regulation now than in the past.
And yes, inspectors have to sign off too….just like any other home improvement operation.

By: Craig Allen

Craig Allen — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 14:16:00 +0000

Well Adelaide might be a solar installation paradise but my local council area (Darebin) in Melbourne sucks. The council has a web page extolling the virtues of solar. But because my suburb is covered by a heritage overlay, and my corrugated iron roof is part of the character of the street, I needed to submit a planning application, with full architectural quality drawings. They rejected my application, suggesting that I instead put the panels on the south side of the roof facing toward the back of the house (and facing away from the sun here in the Southern Hemisphere). I argued my case with them, and they eventually relented on condition that the panels not be closer than 150mm to the roof caps or gutter. That all took a couple of months. After the installation there was also a wait of a month before the installation inspector came to sign off on the connection to the grid.

I know that various councillors are agitating for improvement and I’m hopeful that it will be improved this year. I guess that things have changed so fast that authorities have been taken by surprise and have not yet caught up.

The other real pain is dealing with the electricity companies. They just can’t get their act together with the billing. My bill is such a mess that I have real trouble deciphering it. It’s like trying to decipher a cryptic crossword.

And don’t get me started on the stupid smart meter that actually gives me less information than the old one.

Unfortunately a lot of people would be put off getting solar by the painful experiences of their friends and neighbours.

On the plus side, there are big opportunities for improvements and therefore for drops in cost and effort.

By: Otis11

Otis11 — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 23:33:00 +0000

Why the crap has this not come up before???

I’m just baffled. Drop the soft cost – drop the required permitting! We’ll have solar grid parity tomorrow!

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 21:56:00 +0000

Good. No, great!

Now, how do we distribute this to all the city and county boards of supervisors around the US?

License installers. Require them to be insured and post a performance bond. Put the responsibility for a correctly installed system on the installer’s license and financials.

If we want to be all “belt and suspenders”, then send a building inspector around to check before the “on” switch can be thrown.

By: Sacha B. Nice

Sacha B. Nice — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 20:52:00 +0000

Good humor, good point.