Solar Electric Permit Fees in Northern California
On August 13, 2007, the Sierra Club (Loma Prieta, S.F. Bay and Redwood chapters) published a study that compares what 131 municipalities in Northern California charge for the permit to install photovoltaic (PV) solar panels on residential roofs. The Sierra Club is using the study as a platform to persuade cities to reduce their PV permit fees. This website tracks the progress of that campaign and provides access to the study.
The study is part of the Global Warming Campaign of the Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter.
Note: The permit fees you see in this website apply to the standard PV system described in the survey question.
The following sections describe the study and campaign in detail.
View the study in HTML format or PDF format. The study includes the following sections:
- Executive Summary
- Study Parameters
- Findings Summary
- Why We Need Solar Energy
- A Typical Case History
- Why Cities Require Solar Permits
- Permit Fees: Comparison by City. This section includes charts that rank every city and county by permit fee amount.
- Permit Fee Assessment Differences
- Recommendations
- Conclusion
- References
Recommended permit fee ceiling
Recommended Permit Fee Ceiling
The Sierra Club study recommends that cities reduce their PV permit fees to $300 or less to comply with California Government Code Section 66005 and Section 65850.5 , which limit such fees.
On December 22, 2005, the California Supreme Court upheld the state law that says municipalities must base building fees on the "estimated reasonable costs of providing the services for which the fees are charged."
The Sierra Club study examines how some cities have streamlined their permitting process such that they can recuperate their costs with a permit fee of $300 or less.
Campaign History
Phase 1—Survey for San Benito, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.
- June–August, 2005—Called city building departments to conduct the survey.
- September 30, 2005—Published a study covering only Silicon Valley to the website of the Sierra Club, Loma Prieta Chapter.
- October 21, 2005—Sent letters of recognition to the mayors, city managers, and head building department officials of cities with permit fees of $300 or less. We also sent letters requesting cities with permit fees of $1,000 or more to reduce their fees.
- October 26, 2005—Sent a press release announcing the Silicon Valley study to area newspapers. (See the News Media Coverage section below for links to articles about the study.)
Phase 2—Survey for Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin and San Francisco counties.
- April–July, 2006—Called city building departments to conduct the study survey.
- July 17, 2006—Published the study covering only the North/East S.F. Bay Area to the website of the Sierra Club, San Francisco Bay Chapter.
- July 17, 2006—Sent letters of recognition to the mayors, city managers, and head building department officials of cities with permit fees of $300 or less. We also sent letters requesting cities with permit fees of $1,000 or more to reduce their fees.
- July 25, 2006—Sent a press release announcing the study to area newspapers.
Phase 3—Survey for all the counties in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma.
- June–August, 2006—Called city building departments to update the permit fee data for all counties.
- September 17, 2006—Published the study covering the Greater San Francisco Bay Area to the website of the Sierra Club, Loma Prieta Chapter.
- September 18, 2006—Sent letters to the mayors, city managers, and head building department officials of cities with permit fees of $600 or more requesting them to reduce their fees.
- September 25, 2006—Sent a press release announcing the Greater San Francisco Bay Area study to area newspapers. (See the News Media Coverage section below for links to articles about the study.)
Phase 4—Survey for counties in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area and beyond: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Sacramento, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo.
- June–July, 2007—Called city building departments to update the permit fee data for all counties.
- August 13, 2007—Published the current study covering Northern California to the website of the Sierra Club, Loma Prieta Chapter.
News Media Coverage
The following news media have published stories about or relating to the current study (Greater San Francisco Bay Area) or its legacy studies (the Silicon Valley study or the North/East San Francisco Bay Area study):
- The Almanac (news weekly covering Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley and Woodside):
- Bay Area News Group: December 20, 2007
- Bay City News: August 22, 2007
- CBS 5.com: April 1, 2008
- Contra Costa Times:
- Cupertino Courier: February 22, 2006
- Daily Californian: October 25, 2006
- Danville Weekly: August 18, 2006
- Foster City, City of: June 15, 2007
- Fremont Argus (covering Alameda County):
- Gilroy Dispatch:
- Lodi News-Sentinel: April 12, 2008
- Loma Prietan (newsletter for the Loma Prieta Chapter of the Sierra Club):
- Los Altos Town Crier: December 21, 2005
- Marin Independent Journal:
- Media News: August 22, 2007
- Morgan Hill Times:
- Mountain View Voice: November 18, 2005
- Napa Valley Register: September 11, 2007
- Norcal Solar (periodical devoted to solar energy issues): December 6, 2005
- Palo Alto Daily News:
- Pinnacle News: December 01, 2006
- RealtyTimes: December 28, 2005
- Redwood City Daily News: June 24, 2007
- Renewable Energy Access: October 3, 2006
- Sacramento Bee: February 5, 2007
- Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD):
- San Francisco Examiner: December 12, 2006
- San Jose Mercury News:
- San Mateo County Times:
- San Mateo Daily Journal:
- Santa Cruz Sentinel: December 7, 2005
- St. Helena Star:
- Sustainable Industries Magazine: December 4, 2007
- Tiburon Ark: August 23, 2006
- TV 20: "Eco News," 90 second broadcast: Cutting The Cost For Going Solar
- Vacaville Reporter:
- Vallejo Times Herald: August 23, 2007
- Woodland Daily Democrat: June 6, 2007
- Yodeler: September-October 2006
Study Methodology
The following Survey Methodology webpage describes in detail how the Global Warming and Energy Committee conducted the study.
You can also view or download the Survey Methodology document as a PDF.
Additional Information
Contact the People Behind the Study
For more information about the study or the campaign to reduce PV permit fees, you can contact the following Sierra Club members:
- Kurt Newick: study team leader (Loma Prieta Chapter), Email: KurtNewick@yahoo.com, Phone: 408-370-9636
- Carl Mills: study author (Loma Prieta Chapter), Email: carlmlls@yahoo.comt, Phone: 510-475-1864
- Tom Roberts: conducted interviews for the study (S.F. Bay Chapter), Email: tom.c.roberts@gmail.com, Phone: 415-203-2781
- Arlen Comfort: surveyed cities (Loma Prieta Chapter, Email: acomfort@rocketmail.com, Phone: 650-323-7188
- Tom Dickerman: surveyed cities (Loma Prieta Chapter, Email: dickermn@earthlink.net, Phone: 650-992-3963
- Richard Hughes: surveyed cities (S.F. Bay Chapter), Email: rlhughes@kmabyoyo.com, Phone: 510-396-1207
- Margaret Pennington: permit fee campaign volunteer (Redwood Chapter), Email: penningt@sonic.net, Home phone: 707-829-2294, Cell phone: 707-479-6682
- Jay Halcomb: permit fee campaign volunteer (Redwood Chapter), Email: halcomb@sonic.net, Phone: 707-869-3302
Resources for Solar Inspectors and Plan Reviewers
- Master Thesis on Solar Electric Systems Installed in 16 California Municipalities, by Kate Latham
- Workshops for reviewing and inspecting PV systems:
- Guidelines for reviewing and inspecting PV systems
- How the National Electric Code (NEC) applies to reviewing and inspecting PV systems (documents by John Wiles):
- California Energy Commission: A Guide to PV System Design and Installation
Information on Solar Electric Power
Similar Studies
The Utility Consumers' Action Network (UCAN) did a similar study on solar permit fees for San Diego County: Solar Energy Permitting Fees in the San Diego Region.