SolarAPP Launch Video

CARLA: Since the mid 2000s, both Pima County and the City of Tucson have been extremely aggressive in trying to promote solar in our region. We were being just inundated with solar permits. They were sitting in front of a lot of much more complex building permits and commercial permits that we needed to get out the door.

GEOFF: Here in Pleasant Hill, our city council and mayor are very interested in people using renewable energy sources. We had plans coming in that would take days to process and then get back out. The system here was a paper system, it was all manual.

CRAIG: The city of Menifee right now is the third fastest growing jurisdiction in the state of California. The current environment for solar submittals is anywhere from 50-75 solar projects a week. I’ve had over 30 in one day.

CARLA: It was fortuitous timing that the folks from SolarAPP were looking for people to participate in a Pilot. A more automated review, that will be huge for us. We’re looking at a 90% reduction in the solar permits that we have to touch and process.

GEOFF: The thought of using a program like SolarAPP was very intriguing because it takes all of that paper out of the picture. It’s made things a whole lot easier as far as process. We don’t have contractors coming to us with incomplete plans or plans that are incorrect in some way.

CRAIG: Now, as a contractor, when you submit a set of plans through the SolarAPP, you’re actually having a computer generate and do the review, without any preconceived notions. Once it’s submitted online, it takes 10-15 minutes and it’s done. It’s instantaneous. There’s not any waiting.

CARLA: I think the biggest benefit for the solar installers and contractors will be the reduction in time; time from application or even sales with their customer, to installation, will be reduced tremendously, and we’re already seeing that.

CRAIG: A jurisdiction would, you’d really have to look seriously hard inward not to take advantage of this because of the time savings and the advantages it gives you.

GEOFF: It’s that next logical step in residential solar. I would definitely recommend that other jurisdictions, communities use SolarAPP.