As a result of the Building Code meetings with industry representatives, Miami-Dade County got the Board of Rules and Appeals to agree to a number of changes that will benefit solar.
For one, solar equipment will be considered "green" for the purposes of qualifying for the free "fast-track" of building permits in the unincorporated county. I hear the County is in talks with interested cities to get them to adopt similar fast tracking for green buildings and solar.
Another biggie is that the County will now consider solar panels as being "non-permanent" equipment so they can be installed as designed instead of being treated like air conditioning equipment and other "permanent" rooftop equipment.
Now if we could get a couple more products through code approval. The County may have a plan for that too. We'll have to wait and see if the Department of Energy approves the recent energy efficiency block grant program list, but there's a strong chance that the County may get the green-light on a project to reduce "market barriers" and help companies with the cost of getting product approval.
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A detailed report with a definitive PV permit fee comparison of southern California jurisdictions with specific recommendations for soalr permitting is at:
ReplyDeletehttp://angeles/sierraclub.org/energy/pvfeereport/asp
This report recommends a PV permit fee for residential rooftop system of less than $324 (a fixed fee).
There has been some mild lobbying by the industry to have a flat fee for PV installs. Solar Thermal already has a single permit for installations in the unincorporated part of the County, but I think many city jurisdictions require separate permits - pipes and roof - still.
ReplyDeleteI've heard of some instances when even the county can't get that right and has asked for an electrical permit for DC powered PV circulator pumps on thermal systems.
We have our work cut out for us, but it seems that the various cities and the county are all aware of the unnecessary impediments and are working to fix them. Never fast enough for me though.
Thanks for the info. Any other jurisdictions and their permitting schemes would be appreciated.