Judith Ruiz-Branch
Illinois News Connection
A new report outlines some of the barriers Illinois residents face that can make adopting solar energy more difficult and expensive than necessary.
The findings are based on feedback from residential solar installers across the state about their experiences with permitting offices and the challenges they face.
Study coauthor Theo Rosen, a campaign associate with the Environment Illinois Research & Education Center, said requirements like in-person application drop-offs and long and tedious review processes can prolong the approval time and add unnecessary costs.
“All that extra work that installers have to do, the cost of that gets passed on to consumers,” said Rosen. “And the result is that it is harder and more expensive to ‘go solar’ in Illinois than it needs to be.”
Rosen added that about 20% of Illinois residents cancel their applications for permits, because of delays in the permitting process. The report suggests standardizing permitting across the state.
The report also highlights inconsistencies in the permitting requirements across towns and cities.
It says some installers avoid certain areas altogether or charge a premium to do business there because they find the process so cumbersome.
Rosen said this lack of consistency also means it can be hard for new installers to work in the state.
“A lot of installers,” said Rosen, “something that they spoke about was having to have someone’s full time job be dedicated to maintaining these sort of databases of the varying code requirements, and the varying permitting processes in every municipality that they work in.”
Rosen added that the report recommends the state use “instant permitting” software to streamline the process and eliminate barriers, both for installers and residents.
“Essentially, it is able to perform hundreds of code compliance checks and flag errors immediately,” said Rosen, “and if a permit application is complete and it meets the requirements, approval is immediate.”
The Residential Automated Solar Permitting Act is currently in the Illinois Legislature. It would require the state to implement automated solar permits, similar to what the report recommends.
