Are you a resident of Oro Valley, Arizona looking to install solar panels on your rooftop? Great news! The town is now offering an expedited online residential solar permitting option to help you get your solar panels up faster.
Oro Valley is one of just a dozen communities nationwide selected to participate in the American-Made Solar Automated Permit Processing Plus (SolarAPP+) Prize, a two-step competition sponsored by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The goal of the program is to lower costs and increase accessibility to solar energy for homeowners by implementing automated processing of residential solar permits.
If Oro Valley successfully adopts the SolarAPP+ system, an online platform that instantly issues permits for code-compliant residential rooftop photovoltaic and battery systems, the town will be eligible to receive $15,000. The city of Tucson and Pima County are already using the SolarAPP+ system after participating in a pilot program ahead of its national rollout in June 2021.
Oro Valley staffers are working to get the system up and running before the final submission deadline of April 27. The automated system is expected to significantly reduce the time needed to secure a construction permit for solar installations in Oro Valley. In fact, the town expects to issue over 700 solar-related permits in 2022 alone.
The SolarAPP+ project is funded by the Department of Energy and is managed by the NREL and Underwriters Laboratories, with oversight from The SolarAPP+ Foundation.
So if you’re a resident of Oro Valley looking to go solar, take advantage of this new online permit process and expedite your installation. Not only will it save you time, but it will also help to make solar energy more accessible and affordable for homeowners in the community.
