Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Solar Automated Permit Processing Plus”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

10 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Solar Automated Permit Processing Software for Distributed PV (Cooperative Research and Development Final Report, CRADA Number CRD-19-00825)

NREL and its project partners built and commercialized the novel Solar Automated Permitting Processing Plus (SolarAPP+) software platform that delivers instant residential rooftop solar permits. The tool provides installers with a standard portal for entering permit information for residential solar systems across all Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs) using SolarAPP+, thereby providing a streamlined plan review form, transparency into permitting timelines, and required specifications. The project has proven to reduce permitting timelines from as many as 20 business days to zero, delivering solar projects faster in the four participating AHJs using the platform. Streamlining permitting timelines, all else equal, results in consumers installing their systems and reducing their electricity bills faster. The continued expansion of SolarAPP+ features and adoption nationwide will expand the benefits of the SolarAPP+ beyond the current user base.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

SolarAPP+ Pilot Analysis: Performance and Impact of Instant, Online Solar Permitting

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) led a collaborative effort to develop the Solar Automated Permit Processing Plus (SolarAPP+), a no-cost solar permitting software solution to address residential solar photovoltaic (PV) permitting resource constraints and streamline solar adoption processes among authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs). The SolarAPP+ is an online portal that automates permit plan review, enabling an instant permit approval process for code-compliant residential PV systems. Based on national model building, electrical, and fire codes, the SolarAPP+ automatically performs a compliance check of permit inputs against code requirements and produces an inspection checklist that can be used to verify installation practices, workmanship, and adherence to the approved design. NREL conducted a two-phase pilot with five participating AHJs and 16 solar contractors, spanning from November 2020 through December 2021, evaluating the ability of SolarAPP+ to deliver instant permits and its impact on four critical areas within each AHJ: permit review timelines; solar adoption timelines; AHJ time saved; and inspection results. The pilot confirmed that SolarAPP+ reduced permit review times to less than one day, reduced solar adoption timelines by an average of 12 days, saved an estimated 2,067 staff hours, and had comparable inspection results to those found in traditional permitting. The pilot further identified key lessons for improving SolarAPP+, including ways to streamline SolarAPP+ adoption, development of training resources, and expansion of supported products.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2022

SolarAPP+ Performance Review: 2021 Data

Accelerating rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) deployment has strained the capacity of local authorities responsible for permitting, inspection, and interconnection (PII). Given the ongoing expansion of rooftop PV, a growing number of authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs) and utilities are reforming PII processes to reduce delays. AHJs could significantly reduce PII timelines through reforms such as expedited reviews for small-scale systems, online customer portals, and over-the-counter permitting. However, independent reforms do not resolve issues associated with PII variability across AHJs, and many AHJs lack the resources to implement reforms. In response to these challenges, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) developed the Solar Automated Permit Processing Plus (SolarAPP+) platform, in collaboration with local governments, code development organizations, and industry stakeholders. This report shows SolarAPP+ performance in 2021 across AHJs.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

SolarAPP+ Performance Review (2022 Data)

The Solar Automated Permit Processing Plus (SolarAPP+) platform is an online portal to facilitate and expedite rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) permitting processes. SolarAPP+ allows PV contractors to upload system specifications, have those specifications automatically reviewed for code compliance, and receive instant approval for code-compliant systems. SolarAPP+ also provides inspection checklists to verify installation practices and adherence to approved designs. SolarAPP+ is available to authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs) at no cost. This report is part of an ongoing series of reviews of SolarAPP+ performance. Consistent with previous performance reviews, we summarize SolarAPP+ adoption trends to date and compare various metrics for PV systems permitted through SolarAPP+ versus systems permitted through conventional AHJ permitting processes. As of the end of 2022, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) had contacted over 1,500 AHJs with significant solar permitting volume regarding SolarAPP+. Of those, 607 AHJs had at least expressed interest in the platform. 16 AHJs had begun piloting the platform and 15 of these had publicly launched the platform by the end of 2022. In 2022, 206 installers submitted 11,092 permits through the SolarAPP+ platform, including 708 permits for solar+storage systems. SolarAPP+ permits accounted for around 37% of all permits issued in participating AHJs. We compare permitting timelines through SolarAPP+ to traditional AHJ permitting processes to assess the platform's performance. Consistent with previous SolarAPP+ performance reviews, we find that permitting timelines are significantly shorter for SolarAPP+ projects. Based on median timelines, a typical SolarAPP+ project is permitted and inspected 8 business days sooner than traditional projects. We estimate that automatic SolarAPP+ permitting saved between 3,500 and 13,900 hours of AHJ staff time in 2022. Finally, we find evidence that SolarAPP+ may improve inspection outcomes, with SolarAPP+ projects failing inspections about 28% less frequently than traditional projects.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

SolarAPP+ Performance Review (2023 Data)

The Solar Automated Permit Processing Plus (SolarAPP+) platform is an online portal to facilitate and expedite rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage permitting processes. SolarAPP+ allows PV contractors to upload system specifications, have that information automatically reviewed for code compliance, and receive instant approval for code-compliant systems, reducing authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) staff time needed for review. SolarAPP+ also provides inspection checklists to verify installation practices and adherence to approved designs. SolarAPP+ is available to AHJs at no cost. This report is part of an ongoing series of reviews of SolarAPP+ performance. Consistent with previous performance reviews, we summarize SolarAPP+ adoption trends to date and compare various metrics for PV systems permitted through SolarAPP+ versus systems permitted through traditional AHJ permitting processes. As of the end of 2023, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) had contacted over 1,700 AHJs with significant solar permitting volume regarding SolarAPP+. Of those, 793 AHJs had expressed interest in the platform as of the end of 2023. 161 AHJs had begun piloting the platform and 97 of these had publicly launched the platform by the end of 2023. In 2023, 668 installers submitted 18,906 permits through the SolarAPP+ platform, including 4,834 permits submitted as part of a solar plus storage program. SolarAPP+ permits accounted for around 43% of all permits issued in participating AHJs. We compare permitting timelines through SolarAPP+ to traditional AHJ permitting processes to assess the platform's performance. Consistent with previous SolarAPP+ performance reviews, we find that permitting timelines are significantly shorter for SolarAPP+ projects. Based on median timelines, a typical SolarAPP+ project is permitted and inspected 14.5 business days sooner than traditional projects. We estimate that automatic SolarAPP+ permitting saved around 7,200 hours of AHJ staff time in 2023. Finally, we estimate that SolarAPP+ eliminated over 150,000 business days in permitting-related delays in 2023.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

SolarAPP+ Performance Review (2024 Data)

The Solar Automated Permit Processing Plus (SolarAPP+) platform is an online portal to facilitate and expedite rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage permitting processes. SolarAPP+ allows PV contractors to upload system specifications, have that information automatically reviewed for code compliance, and receive instant approval for code-compliant systems, reducing authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) staff time needed for review. SolarAPP+ also provides inspection checklists to verify installation practices and adherence to approved designs. This report is part of an ongoing series of reviews of SolarAPP+ performance. Consistent with previous performance reviews, we summarize SolarAPP+ adoption trends to date and compare various metrics for PV systems permitted through SolarAPP+ versus systems permitted through traditional AHJ permitting processes. As of the end of 2024, 799 AHJs had expressed interest in the platform, with 264 fully adopting (215) or piloting (49) the platform. In 2024, 861 installers submitted 37,393 permits through the SolarAPP+ platform, including 27,375 permits for PV+storage systems. SolarAPP+ permits accounted for around 43% of all permits issued in all participating AHJs, and more than 60% of all permits in several participating AHJs. We compare permitting timelines through SolarAPP+ to traditional AHJ permitting processes to assess the platform's performance. Consistent with previous SolarAPP+ performance reviews, we find that permitting timelines are significantly shorter for SolarAPP+ projects. Based on median timelines, a typical SolarAPP+ project is permitted and inspected 12 business days sooner than traditional projects. We estimate that automatic SolarAPP+ permitting saved around 18,400 hours of AHJ staff time in 2024. Finally, we estimate that SolarAPP+ eliminated over 100,000 business days in permitting-related delays in 2024.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Benefits of the SolarAPP+ Online Permitting Software

The Solar Automated Permit Processing Plus (SolarAPP+) software is an online platform that provides plan review and instantly issues permits for code-compliant residential photovoltaic (PV) systems.

automated permitting↗
DOE OSTI2024

5 Easy Steps to SolarAPP+ Adoption

The Solar Automated Permit Processing Plus (SolarAPP+) software is an online platform that provides plan review and instantly issues permits for code-compliant residential photovoltaic (PV) systems. Here's how your jurisdiction can get started.

automated permitting↗
DOE OSTI2024

SolarAPP+ Performance Review: Final Technical Report

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and its project partners have developed the novel Solar Automated Permit Processing plus (SolarAPP+) software platform that provides a flexible, web-based PV-permitting tool for residential systems that can be integrated with existing and complementary software platforms. The main objective of this research is to analyze the implementation of SolarAPP+. Analysis was conducted by identifying the benefits, tradeoffs, and overall performance of SolarAPP+, including achieving its goals of delivering automated, code compliant systems, influencing permitting cycle times, and improving application submittals and/or inspection performance. The NREL team published the results of this analysis in annual SolarAPP+ Performance Review technical reports.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2025

SolarAPP+ Enhancements and Commercialization (Final Technical Report)

With millions of distributed photovoltaic (PV) systems expected to be installed over the next five years, the permitting and inspection processes of authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs) may become overburdened, causing delays and increased costs for installed systems (Cruce et al. 2022). The central goal of this project was to automate and streamline permitting processes for distributed PV systems and complementary technologies, such as battery storage. Deploying automated permitting has been hypothesized to reduce permit review times, resulting in reduced costs and improved customer experience. This has the potential to expand the PV and PV-plus-storage market nationwide. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and its project partners, including UL Solutions, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), the International Code Council (ICC), and more, developed the Solar Automated Permit Processing (SolarAPP+™) software platform to reduce permit review times. NREL and its partners also collaborated with the solar industry, the building safety community, and local governments to develop SolarAPP+.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗