THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT New England’s last remaining coal-fired plant will shut down by 2028 shows we are saying goodbye to dirty and expensive forms of energy production. Now we have to rapidly build the clean, affordable energy system of tomorrow and rooftop solar is poised to play a leading role.
Here in Massachusetts we’ve made solid progress, tapping 10.8 percent of our rooftop solar generation potential, one of the highest rates in the country. Households and businesses are realizing that by going solar they can break free from the utility companies and reduce their electricity bills. And thanks to state and federal incentives – including tens of billions of dollars available from the Inflation Reduction Act – it’s more affordable than ever to make the switch to solar.
But we are just scratching the surface. After all, rooftop solar has the potential to meet almost half of our energy needs.
Getting there is going to mean a massive increase in solar applications, placing significant demands on local permitting departments. In Massachusetts, many local authorities still use paper forms for rooftop solar applications and have no deadlines by which they must be approved. Rather than relying on time-pressured municipal employees manually confirming numerous structural, electrical and fire compliance checks, we should make the process smoother and quicker.
There are ways to do all the necessary permitting checks much more efficiently, without cutting corners or compromising safety. The Massachusetts Legislature is considering H.4503, which includes a requirement for municipalities to accept electronic submission of solar permit applications and associated documentation, and sets a timetable for authorities to act.
Even better than electronic permitting is automated or instant permitting. The gold standard for automated electronic permitting is SolarAPP+, the free-to-use platform developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Hundreds of cities across the country already use SolarAPP+ to approve solar applications, quickly and smoothly delivering energy independence and lower bills to their residents. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) estimates that in those areas where it is being used, SolarAPP+ saved around 9,000 hours of local government staff time in 2022 and sped up the permitting process by an average of 13 days.
We need more solar power in Massachusetts. And if we can get it from rooftops, we should. That’s better than buying energy from fossil fuel power plants located miles away. But to maximize our rooftop solar potential, we need a new approach to permitting. Let’s require electronic permitting and encourage all Bay State jurisdictions to adopt SolarAPP+ as soon as possible.