Solar permitting process checklists and best practices: helpful resources for local governments from IREC and Vote Solar

Providing clear and accurate information to potential applicants upfront can be a simple and efficient way for municipalities to improve the completeness and accuracy of the permit applications they review. Municipalities across the country have begun creating permitting checklists and more comprehensive guidance documents to assist applicants. IREC has created this two-page handout to introduce these documents to permitting staff and to provide some tips on how to draft effective versions for your own community.

Working together, IREC and Vote Solar have developed a set of Best Practices for the solar permitting process that identify nine benchmarks for an efficient solar permitting process.  These Best Practices can be used as a guide for jurisdictions in identifying aspects of their permitting process that may warrant improvement.

IREC Editors