Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/337841
By Jordan England- Nelson LosAngelesDailyNews Installing solar panels in California will get a lot less complicated if the state Senate votes to pass a bill to speed up the permitting process that can often drag on for months. Assembly Bill 2188, drafted by Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, would force cities to process permits for small, residential solar in- stallations within five busi- ness days. It also would re- duce the review process to just one inspection after the installation is complete. The state Assembly voted 58-8 to approve the pro- posed legislation in May. Backers say they expect the bill to pass in the Senate as well. Under the current sys- tem, each city and county has its own permit applica- tion process for solar panel installation. In some ju- risdictions, permission is granted over the counter. In others, solar applications can take up to two months to approve and sites may re- quire multiple inspections by city building and fire de- partments. Navigating the idio- syncrasies of hundreds of unique applications is a lo- gistical nightmare for solar companies, industry execu- tives say. "It's kind of like we're do- ing business in 500 differ- ent countries all at the same time," said Ken Button, who heads Torrance-based Verengo Solar, the largest installation company in Southern California. Button, who has been lobbying for permit stan- dardization for six years, brought the issue to Mu- ratsuchi's attention. Verengo Solar employs 1,000 workers in four states and has a team of about 75 people that works exclu- sively on processing per- mits. Button said it takes on average three weeks to ap- ply for a permit, install the solar modules and get the final project inspected. The actual installation takes one day. Residential solar panels have become so standard- ized over the past decade that some cities and coun- ties use a simple checklist to review applications and turn them around in less then an hour. Supporters of AB 2188 want all jurisdic- tions to adopt such a policy. "It'stheexactsamesystem that we are installing from San Francisco to San Diego," said Bernadette del Chiaro, executive director of the Cal- ifornia Solar Energy Indus- tries Association. "Some of these installations are com- plicated and need extra scru- tiny,butthevast majorityare cookie-cutter. They should get swift approval." The League of Califor- nia Cities, which bristles at any legislation that would impose restrictions on lo- cal government, has come out against the bill, saying it unfairly sends solar pan- els to the front of the line. "Is it fair to catapult a homeowner who can afford an expensive solar system before other residents seek- ing home inspections? Are the needs of a homeowner adding solar to their home more urgent than a home- owner with a broken water heater?" the league wrote in an op-ed for the Los Ange- les News Group. Residential solar systems cost $20,000 to $30,000, but many solar companies offer financing with no up- front costs and monthly payments that are offset by lower electricity bills. Barry Cinnamon, who runsasolarinstallationcom- pany in Silicon Valley, spoke in favor of AB 2188 during a state Assembly hearing in April. "One of the most expen- sive things for an installer is every single little town and big city has different rules for solar," Cinnamon said in an interview. "It makes it very difficult to be cost effec- tive and it also makes it diffi- cult to scale up a business." Cinnamon said San Jose will grant a permit faster than it takes him to drive round-trip to the city's build- ingdepartment.Inneighbor- ing Fremont, the same pro- cess takes about a month. The delay means he will charge about $2,000 more to do a job in Fremont than he would in San Jose. "It's bad customer ser- vice, but there's nothing we can do about it," Cinnamon said. A common complaint of solar customers is the time it takes for modules to be in- stalled, according to Paula Mints, chief analyst at SPV Market Research. "It's really crucial that we get our act together as an in- dustry," Mints said. "Any- thing that simplifies, speeds up and streamlines the pro- cess is good, but it's not enough to do it in California. Weneeditin49morestates." Same-day permit ap- proval is "a big challenge" in South Bay beach cities because high densities and small roofs means solar pan- els can limit firefighter ac- cess, said Sal Kaddorah, a building official for Manhat- tan Beach, which requires inspections from both the fire and building depart- ments. Good solar installation companies know what the city is looking for and usually submit applications that are near perfect, Kaddorah said, which speeds up the process. But for small cities like Man- hattan Beach, staffing is an issue. "It's challenging, but it's doable," he said. AB 2188 would only allow for one inspection after the permit has been issued and the project has been com- pleted, which means cities like Manhattan Beach would have to stop sending the Fire Department to inspect solar projects. Capt. Steve Deuel, train- ing coordinator at the Tor- rance Fire Department, said he has no problem with streamliningtheadministra- tive process for obtaining a solar permit so long as safety isn't compromised. The bigger issue from the firefighters' perspective is not the permitting process, Deuel said, but the solar pan- els themselves. Studies have shown that solar panels expose firefight- ers to a risk of electric shock and that damaged modules can cause electrical fires. Solar panels also get in the way. Building depart- ments require a minimum amount of roof space be left around solar units for fire- fighter access, but some- times that's not enough. If a house fire is too hot, firefighters often poke holes in the roof to let air escape and allow them to enter the building. Solar panels act like "a second roof," Deuel said, which can prevent fire- fighters from ventilating the fire. "It's a Catch-22," Deuel said. "We all want to save money and be ecologically responsible. On the other hand, at the cost of what? The safety of our firefight- ers? That's a hard pill for me to swallow." HOUSING Ca li fo rn ia l aw w ou l d fa st -t ra ck s ol ar u sa ge VERENGOSOLAR-COURTESY Installing solar panels is about to become a lot less complicated under AB 2188, a bill that would speed up the permitting process that can delay solar installation by up to two months. 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