By Patrice ‘Pete’ Parsons
July 13, 2022
Published in the Dallas Morning News (subscription only) and Corpus Christi Caller-Times
As Texans hunkered down again from a “reserve capacity energy shortage” this week, one thing was clear: Texans who invested in solar helped the electric grid keep us cool.
The great thing about solar in increasingly hot Texas, with temperature records blown out across the state over the past three days, is that the exact times when we’re reaching to increase the air conditioning, solar is doing its thing: offsetting that increased need with the sun’s rays.
As natural gas price increases blast off, and gas, coal and nuclear barely meeting the challenge, solar has done its work affordably and quietly. All of which makes for head-scratching: the decisions that Texas municipalities and electrical co-ops are inflicting on solar installers and their customers are slowing the pace of this clean energy source across our sunny state.
Texas Solar Energy Society is the oldest solar nonprofit in Texas (established in 1982). Recently, our business members tell us of the ever-increasing obstacles being put in their way, just at this critical time when we could use more Texas-abundant, clean energy on the grid.
From Houston to Central Texas to the Panhandle, excessive permit processing and lengthy inspections by municipalities are slowing the pace of solar installations. What many readers may not know is that every solar installation requires multiple building and electrical permits, with some cities requiring as many as six different permits. Some installers have opted out in Waco due to its labyrinthian permit processes. In Houston, the energy capital of the world, solar installers wait months for permit approval. They’re often sent “back to the end of the line” for the slightest error on the long application form.
Another hurdle installers face is rapidly increasing processing fees for solar permits. In many Texas cities, solar electricity installation permit fees can be 10 times as much as residential general electrical installation permit fees. The largest electrical co-op in the country, the Pedernales Electrical Co-op, has the following fees for homeowners who want to install rooftop systems:
- Application and engineering study fee: $250 for systems smaller than or equal to 50kW.
- Interconnection agreement and inspection fee for the same system size: $250;
- For systems larger than 50kW, the application fee is $150 with an additional $250 for the interconnect and inspection fee and the full cost of a larger engineering study fee.
Inspections are often another morass of wait time. In one municipality, a fire department is doing the inspections, using ladders to access roofs. And while our industry absolutely promotes safety inspections, it would be cost-effective for cities to start investing in trained inspection personnel, capable of efficiently carrying out these assessments.
Solar is a massive growth industry in Texas with well-paying jobs. More than 85% of homeowners in Texas are now purchasing batteries as a part of their rooftop systems. In this way, they can use their own stored energy instead of grid-generated energy.
Having more efficient inspections and permitting processes can allow the current backlog of solar rooftop projects to move faster when we need them the most, in what will clearly be the hottest summer on record in Texas history. And while the costs of solar panels and storage batteries have come down in price significantly over the past few years, these are not inexpensive systems.
Current in-the-queue Texas solar rooftop homeowners’ investment doesn’t just benefit them. Their investment helps all Texans. Let’s work to get renewable energy onto our massively over-stressed grid.
Texas cities and the 67 electrical co-ops throughout the state should not hamper solar’s growth. Instead, they should work to connect more renewable, clean energy to the grid.
The Texas Solar Energy Society will be reaching out to all municipalities to promote a universal permit that will speed the process of Texans investing in solar. We hope that Texans will reach out to their local leaders and ask what kind of welcome mat they’ll provide for solar installers and solar rooftop investors; it should be an efficient one.