Residential Solar PhotoVoltaic Permit Campaign
for Southern California
Campaign Elements
In June 2005, Sierra Club members in the greater Silicon Valley
region began a study of residential Solar Permit fees charged
by cities, which led to a report for
131 municipalities in Northern California.
Starting in January 2009, Sierra Club members in Southern California
worked with their Northern California colleagues to prepare a
similar report for 250 municipalities in Southern California, completed in June 2009.
The Solar
Electric Permit Fees in Southern California report
compares what 250 municipalities in Southern California
charge for a permit to install photovoltaic (PV) solar panels
on residential roofs. The report is based on a survey that Sierra
Club volunteers conducted between 2/1/09 and 4/13/09. Municipalities
in the following counties were surveyed: Imperial, Kern, Los Angeles,
Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo,
Santa Barbara and Ventura. The purpose of the report and related
campaign is to persuade municipalities to reduce PV permit fee
levels to $324 or less and issue PV permits promptly (same day
is ideal).
The survey included questions about the total permit fee and
the permit time to issuance (how many days typically elapse between
permit submittal and issuance). The report authors used these
factors to calculate a composite rank that shows the relative
solar friendliness of each municipality. The report includes ranking
tables that list municipalities in the order of:
1. Fees charged (all jurisdictions) 2. Composite ranking based
on both fee and time-to-issuance (all jurisdictions) 3. Alphabetical
by municipality name 4. Separate fee ranking charts for cities
within each county
In June 2009, the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club contacted
several dozen municipalities with reported PV permit fees of $750
or more for residential roof-top systems. The Chapter requested
that these cities review their solar permit fee calculation methodologies,
since they are likely charging fees higher than cost recovery
levels. State law requires minimum solar permit fees that do not
exceed permit processing costs.
Charging more for solar permit fees than the reasonable costs
to administer the permit violates California Government Code Section
66014, which provides that fees associated with building inspections
and building permits “shall not exceed the estimated reasonable
cost of providing the service for which the fee is charged.”
California Government Code, Section 65850.5 (a) “The implementation
of consistent statewide standards to achieve the timely and cost-effective
installation of solar energy systems is not a municipal affair…It
is the intent of the Legislature that local agencies…encourage
the installation of solar energy systems by removing obstacles
to, and minimizing costs of, permitting for such systems.”
Municipalities with high fees typically compute fees based on
the claimed valuation of the project (including the cost of the
solar panels). This methodology is inappropriate, as it tends
to increase fees above cost recovery levels. The cost of the solar
panels has no correlation to the cost of processing a permit and
inspecting the installation! PV permit fees should be based on
a billable hourly rate for the plan review and inspection. The
resources needed to approve a PV system depend on the completeness
of the permit submittal package, the workmanship of the installation
and the knowledge of the permit reviewer and inspector. Local
government actions contribute to the cost of solar directly through
permitting fees and indirectly through excessive permitting requirements
and times.
Read the full "Solar
Electric Permit Fees in Southern California" report
Read the news
release for the Southern California Solar Permit campaign.
Read the complementary Residential Solar Permit Fee Study for
Northern California
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