How do I register my jurisdiction for SolarAPP+?

Registering your jurisdiction for SolarAPP+ is an easy and straight forward process. The presentation below will walk you through every step of the registration process.

Here is the link to register.

Clicking on the link above will redirect you to the SolarAPP+ page and the registration setup. There is no cost, nor obligation to move forward with SolarAPP+ as an additional optional service for your jurisdiction to offer. This does not commit your jurisidiction to anything.

To view in full screen, click the three-dot menu icon on the viewer and select 'Enter Full Screen'

Use this link to view in GoogleDocs: SolarAPP+ Onboarding and Adoption Guide.

Initial Registration Guide

Once the registration page has opened, a menu that looks like the picture below will be shown. As you are registering your jurisdiction, you will select "AHJ" under the Account-Type menu. You will then be prompted to enter your jurisdiction name and address. A drop-down menu will appear as you type the address, where you will be allowed to select the address. Enter your first and last name, as well as email address. We recommend using an email that can go to multiple people or one you share, ie ([email protected]). You will then create an account password and verify the password. This should be a password that you're willing to share with other people at your jurisdiction. It is good to have multiple people aware of SolarAPP+ and the ability to manage it.

At the bottom of this menu, you will be asked to check two boxes: one for agreeing to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and another for agreeing to receiving SolarAPP+ emails for announcements and updates. Once those have been selected, review your information to ensure it is correct. Then, click the blue "Create Account" button.

A new box will appear that prompts you to select which parts of the jurisdiction will be served by your account. This allows you to specify if you are at the city level or the county level. Select the "Save Selections" button after choosing which jurisdiction levels you fit at. After this, you can continue to finalize account creation by clicking "Next".

If you are a County, please exclude the cities that are NOT in your jurisdiction to ensure accuracy. If you encounter issues, please reach out to [email protected] and we will be glad to help.

If you have successfully created an account, a screen will appear that shows "Account has been created" with a green checkmark. While your email address is being verified by the team, you can enter information about your current permitting process. Click the next button to begin.

First, you will prompted to fill in your current permitting software. If you have a permitting software, please put this information here. If not, please provide information on what your current permitting process is. Other questions should be answered with yes or no responses. Once you have answered these questions, click "Go" to continue.

From here, you will receive one of two messages. These depend on if your jurisdiction marked a current permitting software or not. One recommends the Standalone SolarAPP+ method, which is recommended for jurisdictions that do not currently have a permitting software. This allows SolarAPP+ to do everything including processing contractor fees and issuing permits. The other option is Integrated, which is recommended to jurisdictions who have a permitting workflow software in place. This allows SolarAPP+ to do automated plan review and handle charging the one time SolarAPP+ plan check processing fee. The contractor is then routed to your jurisdiction's Instant Permit Workflow which will cover contractors paying your permitting fees and issuing a permit.

For now, do not worry about which integration method recommendation shows up. Click "Finish" to be redirected to the full registration page. This page looks like the picture below.

From this page, you can select which one of the integration methods works best for your jurisdiction. This is where you should make a decision on the integration method. Whichever is selected in blue is the method you have chosen. Please review the details on each and do not hestiate to reach out to the SolarAPP+ team with questions if you do not know which to select.

Let's start by reviewing the integrated method setup. If you have chosen the standalone method you can jump to those instructions here.

Integrated Method Walkthrough

If you have selected the integrated method, continue with the following instructions. After clicking "Next" on the integration method page, you will be directed to the "Local Settings" menu.

Local Settings Tab

On the local settings tab, you will be asked to verify your jurisdiction's permitting authorities. Select which locations match your jurisdiction's authority. Since some jurisdictions will have a county and city level permitting authority, it is important to review this for the correct level of authority. If you need help verifying these locations, click the "VISIT THE REGISTRY" link to be directed to the AHJ Registry site. If you are missing a location that you serve, click the "I DO NOT SEE ONE OR MORE OF THE PLACES I SERVE" link. This will prompt an email to send to the team for assistance. Once you have verified that all of the area you serve and only the areas you serve, are selected, you may click the "Save Places" button.

On the top of the page you are working on, there is a bar that shows different yellow tabs. The image above shows this bar. To move to the next field, click on the next yellow tab.

Basic Info

The next tab will be basic information on the person registering the jurisdiction. Most of this will be auto-populated, but please double check these fields for correct information. You will also be prompted to include a website. Provide a link to your SolarAPP+ landing page for the jurisdiction. If you are still working on this page, please include a link for your jurisdiction's building department. Make sure to save before moving to the next tab.

Contact Info

The next tab will direct you to enter contact information. You will be prompted to enter the address of your jurisdiction's city hall or county building. Additionally, the location of your Building and Safety department should be entered. If it is the same as the previous location, you can select "Same as Above". Save once you have completed this tab.

Jurisdiction Logo

The next tab, which will be in grey, will direct you to a place to upload your jurisdiction's logo. This logo will be placed on any document approved by SolarAPP+ for your jurisdiction. This is optional at this stage. We recommend a png file with a minimum of 300 x 300 pixels. To upload, you can drag-and-drop the file into the box on the page or click the box to be prompted to select a file off of your computer.

Features & Project Types

The next tab will collect information regarding your jurisdiction's features and project types. First, you will select the SPEC years that your permitting process currently adheres to. This can be updated later if you change SPEC years. You will be asked to choose from options for both NEC and IRC codes. Feature selection allows a jurisdiction to choose if SolarAPP+ will be allowed to review for Main Panel Upgrades (MPU) and main breaker derates. Project types allows for specification on what types of projects your jurisdiction accepts. These include "Solar PV", "Solar + Storage", "Building Integrated Solar", and "Building Integrated Solar + Storage". At a minimum, "Solar PV" must be selected. Save once these have been selected.

Jurisdiction's Permit Policies

Jurisdiction's Geographic Specifications

The next tab is where information on things like wind speed, snow load, and dry bulb temperature can be entered. Inputs selected on this page will be applied to every SolarAPP+ project in your jurisdiction. First, the A53 wind speed will be selected from a drop-down menu. Next, select the seismic design category. A54 Snow Load should be entered next from the drop-down menu. The next two fields are for the low and high ambient dry bulb temperatures. Enter these in Celsius. If you are unfamiliar with where to find those values you may use this FAQ to assist you. SolarAPP+ now also integrates with the ATC Hazard tool as a default, unless you specify to NOT use that tool and prefer to use the values you've input. Select whether project valuation is required for calculating permitting fees. To ensure these values are correct, please click the "Confirm Accuracy" button. This will prompt a dialogue box where you must certify that you entered the correct values. Once this is done, you can save the page and move on to the next tab.

Local Ordinances/Deviations From State or Model Codes

The next tab allows customization for the jurisdiction when there may be local ordinances or deviations from code. If there are differences, select "Yes", and more options for specifics to be added will appear. Fill in the ordinance numbers, language of the ordinance, and a hyperlink to the ordinance in the first field. List a contact that the SolarAPP+ team can contact to discuss this ordinance in the second field. If there are no differences, select "No." After this, save the page.

Fire Department Review

On the final tab in this menu, information about fire department reviews can be entered. First, a selection must be made on if the fire department is allowed to review solar and battery projects. If this is a "yes", you will be asked if the fire department issues its' own permit. You will also be asked if the fire department conducts a plan review prior to building permits being issued and if they collect a plan review fee for this. If the fire department does collect a fee, a new question on whether the fee is collected by the building department then given to the fire department will appear. The final field will ask for a contact at the fire department. Make sure to save this information.

Integration Setup

After this menu, clicking "Next" will direct you to a section on creating an instant workflow for SolarAPP+ jobs. A checklist is provided for tasks you will have to complete in your instant workflow software. More information on this can be found in our help page under "For Jurisdictions". You will see options for setting up specific workflow software and how to set up Stripe for instant payments. After these tasks have been completed, please enter the website link where contractors can go to get information on the SolarAPP+ process works. This is likely your jurisdiction’s SolarAPP+ landing page. If everything is set up here, you can click "Save" and move on. Clicking "Save" does have you confirm that your Instant Workflow is created, incorporates a spot for the SolarAPP+™ Approval ID, enables the upload of the SolarAPP+™ Approval documents AND is ready for pilot submissions testing.

Terms & Conditions

Clicking "Next" will direct you to a menu for agreeing to terms of use. Please open both the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and review these documents. Once you have read and agree to these, check the box next to the Terms of Use statement. Additionally, read through the Code Compliance Review statement and check the box if you agree. Both boxes must be checked to be able to finish registration with SolarAPP+. Save this page.

Launch Your Pilot

After clicking "Next", you will be directed to the Pilot Launch page. If nothing shows up to fill out on this page, it is because you have not completed previous steps that must be completed. Please go back and check all tabs and sections. Once this is all filled in, you will see more information on this page.

This is the page where you can specify all information on when and how your jurisdiction wants a pilot of SolarAPP+ to work. Enter an ideal date by which your jurisdiction hopes to start the pilot. Select whether you want an open pilot or closed pilot. An open pilot allows all verified contractors in SolarAPP+ to submit projects. A closed pilot allows a specified list of contractors to submit in SolarAPP+. This will automatically include the SolarAPP+ partners (Sunrun, Tesla, Sunpower, and Freedom Forever). A field will appear if "Closed" is selected where you can specify if you want to add more contractors to the closed pilot or if any of the SolarAPP+ partners should be excluded. The next field allows you to specify what requirements must be met before your jurisdiction would move to fully adopted. This could be a number of inspections, number of permits issued, or even a time period. It is fully up to your team, but will be what the SolarAPP+ uses to guide our check-ins. For the next drop-down menu, you will be asked if your jurisdiction wants to launch the pilot via email and are okay with the SolarAPP+ team reaching out to check in on progress to full adoption. Details can be added on how you would prefer this to happen if "No" is selected. We also ask that you let us know if you plan to announce SolarAPP+ to your contractors on a website. If "yes", please enter in the URL in the field that appears.

Submitting Your Registration

Once you have completed these steps, scroll to the bottom of the page. You will see two charts labled "Local Settings Completion" and "Integration Settings Completion", as shown below. If these are marked at 100% each, you are ready to submit your registration! If not, please navigate back through the previous menus to see where information is missing. Once 100% is reached, click the "Submit" button.

From here, the SolarAPP+ team will reach out to your jurisdiction for next steps. This will include having a Pilot Launch Meeting with the SolarAPP+ team. Congrats!

Standalone Method Walkthrough

If you have selected the standalone method, continue with the following instructions. After clicking "Next" on the integration method page, you will be directed to the "Local Settings" menu.

Local Settings Tab

On the top of the page you are working on, there is a bar that shows different yellow tabs. The image above shows this bar. To move to the next field, click on the next yellow tab.

Basic Info

Contact Info

Jurisdiction Logo

Features & Project Types

Jurisdiction Permit Policies

The next tab is for jurisdiction's permit policies. This allows for settings for contractors to be set. Select which level of licenses contractors need to work in your jurisdiction. You can also toggle whether legacy projects can be included. These are projects where solar is already present, but a new permit is needed if storage is being added. Options are also provided for expirations and extensions of permits. Here, you can select information for how long a permit lasts before it is considered expired. If extensions on permit validity are allowed, you can enter that in the box to the right of the expiration period box. Below these, you have options to fill in a deadline to extend the permit and how many times the permit deadline can be extended. Make sure to save this page once you have entered this information. Continue through the steps for setup by clicking here.

Jurisdiction's Geographic Specifications

The next tab is where information on things like wind speed, snow load, and dry bulb temperature can be entered. Inputs selected on this page will be applied to every SolarAPP+ project in your jurisdiction. First, the A53 wind speed will be selected from a drop-down menu. Next, select the seismic design category. A54 Snow Load should be entered next from the drop-down menu. The next two fields are for the low and high ambient dry bulb temperatures. Enter these in Celsius. If you are unfamiliar with where to find those values you may use this FAQ to assist you. SolarAPP now also integrates with the ATC Hazard tool as a default, unless you specify to NOT use that tool and prefer to use the values you have input. Select whether project valuation is required for calculating permitting fees. To ensure these values are correct, please click the "Confirm Accuracy" button. This will prompt a dialogue box where you must certify that you entered the correct values. Once this is done, you can save the page and move on to the next tab.

Local Ordinances/Deviations From State or Model Codes

Fire Department Review

Integration Setup

After this menu, clicking "Next" will direct you to a section on integration setup with SolarAPP+. Since the standalone method is being use, SolarAPP+ will be processing payments for you. You will be asked to create a Stripe account, which is where contractor fees will be processed. Clicking on "Start" will open a menu that provides instructions on how to set up the Stripe account. Once you have done this, return to the SolarAPP+ registration page to provide the publishing key and secret key in the fields.

Click "Submit" to return to the integration setup checklist. The next step is to upload your jurisdiction's fee schedule. Click the "Start" button next to this prompt. You will then receive a popup menu that allows documents to be uploaded. Upload the documents and click "Submit". This will return you to the checklist once more.

Next, select "Start" next to the Set up Permit and Inspection's Job Card. This page will prompt for information on how contractors can set up inspections within the jurisdiction. A link to your inspections page can be provided. Enter the phone number that can be called, as well as any request codes. There is also a section for notes to be added. Click "Save" and "Next" to move forward. You will then see a box to enter information any legal information that should be put on the job card. Enter information and save, clicking "Finish" to complete this task.

The final box on the checklist page is a space for setting up a manual process to upload permits. Here you can capture any notes you wish to keep in your SolarAPP+™ profile page.

If all information is filled out completely, you will be able to select the "Manual Record Creation Complete". As you filled out each one of the sections above, the "Start" button should have changed to "Completed". If not, please go back through this menu and ensure completion of all fields. Once this is done, select "Next".

Terms & Conditions

Launch Your Pilot

Submitting Your Registration

From here, the SolarAPP+ team will reach out to your jurisdiction for next steps. Congrats!