By Ruth Fein Revell, communications manager for the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC)
Staying current with the pace of solar technology evolution can either keep you up at night or jolt you out of bed in the morning like a double espresso.
Photo courtesy of Wayne National Forest
Updated professional training is critical, including the latest best practices for permitting processes and electrical codes. Also at the heart of successful permitting is communication—between both industry professionals and local code officials.
Across the country, jurisdictions are either overloaded with solar permitting applications or they lack a steady stream of solar projects and related inspections. Some areas with long queues are streamlining the permitting process for efficiency to allow more first-time approvals without compromising the quality of installations. In other regions, excessive paperwork, multiple call-back inspections and related delays may be common, either due to the inspection and permitting process or contractors who aren’t sufficiently familiar with what code officials expect. In all cases, the disconnect can affect solar installers’ bottom line and that of their customers.
That’s where communication comes into play. As a professional contractor or installer, knowing what an inspector is looking for and keeping up with current codes and procedures will help move the permitting process along as efficiently as possible. Likewise, contractors with quality solar training and experience may position themselves to educate a less experienced inspector on the most current tools and best practices for solar installation and permitting.
A newly updated, interactive online PV training course created for code officials and increasingly used by contractors and installers can help. It’s referred to as PVOT (PV online training).
While the course was originally designed for code officials by a prestigious working group of subject matter experts, under the guidance of the International Association of Electrical Inspectors (IAEI) and the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), it is increasingly utilized by electrical and general contractors, PV installers and others who can benefit from the knowledge presented in a self-paced, online format. It can be thought of as another tool in an installer’s professional toolbox.
The free course offers CEUs from the IAEI, the International Code Council (ICC) and NABCEP (North American Board of Certified Energy Professionals).
“One of the things most valuable for a contractor is building confidence with an inspector, so they feel you know and follow the applicable codes and standards,” said Don Hughes, a code official with Santa Clara County, California, for more than 20 years who was involved with the development of the PVOT since its initial creation in 2012.
PVOT features seven lessons that cover key points and common installation mistakes. A “capstone” lesson then offers a game-based 3D model for roof-mounted residential PV installation. An information icon throughout the training references the 2008, 2011 and 2014 National Electric Code as well as the 2012 international fire, residential and building codes.
“PVOT is an excellent source for PV installers as well as code officials and inspectors since they can both be participants in speeding up the permitting process, while never compromising safety or the effectiveness of an installation,” said Joe Sarubbi, who directed the development of the original PVOT and its most recent update for IREC and the IAEI. A former solar instructor and electrician who set up a nationally recognized renewable energy training program at Hudson Valley Community College in Upstate New York, Sarubbi was IREC’s project director for the SITN (Solar Instructor Training Network), which provided training to more than 1,000 solar instructors in colleges and other training facilities across the United States.
The newly updated PVOT includes a chapter on streamlining the permitting process for code officials and industry experts, as well as a new chapter on the I-codes (IBC, IRC, IFC) to help code officials who handle all code-related issues.
“In developing the PVOT, we were aware that small municipalities don’t always have electrical inspectors and building inspectors. It’s usually one person doing it all,” Sarubbi said. “Either way, in small and large communities, by taking the online training, the PV installer gets a better feel for what inspectors are going to need—up-front and during the inspection process—to ensure the timeline from inception to completion is reduced.”
The training is part of the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative’s STEP project (Solar Training for Energy Professionals), for which IREC serves as national administrator.
A sample of PVOT’s training on required solar labeling
Since launched just four years ago, nearly 5,000 code officials and industry professionals have begun the online PV training. While some complete the entire course, including quizzes that test the knowledge learned, others spend time only on select lessons. CEUs are awarded only for course completion.
As for the permitting process, some states, such as Vermont and California, are taking on solar permitting as a state issue rather than leaving it to local authorities having jurisdiction. There is some movement on the national level to encourage more consistent permitting processes, at the very least in the form of standard recommended guidelines.
The Solar America Board for Codes and Standards (Solar ABCs) has created a model streamlined permit process for small-scale PV systems, which it recommends local jurisdictions use. According to Solar ABCs (a separate program funded by the U.S. Department of Energy), the suggested process takes advantage of the many common characteristics inherent in most small-scale PV systems installed today, both to streamline the application process and the awarding of permits. The streamlined permitting process is intended to simplify the structural and electrical review of a PV system project of less than 15 kW, according to Solar ABCs, and to minimize the need for detailed engineering studies and unnecessary delays.
As permitting authorities across the country become more burdened with high volumes of solar permit applications, keeping the process moving efficiently is as important for them as it is for the solar industry. IREC is helping to identify reforms that offer benefits to both.
“With so many jurisdictions involved, consistency and standardization are among the keys to driving down the installed cost of solar and other renewable energy,” said IREC regulatory director Sara Baldwin Auck. “One of the things we’re doing is spreading the word about innovative processes some communities have adopted. Best practice examples show forward-thinking jurisdictions are providing transparent and efficient permitting and inspection procedures, streamlining the process to lower costs for solar developers and ultimately consumers.”