California Solar Permit Guide

How residential solar permitting works in California, and how to find your city's verified requirements

288 verified cities

36 counties

25 utilities

Informational only. This page describes the general California framework, not any one city's rules. It is not legal, engineering, or permit advice. Always confirm current requirements with your specific city/county and utility.

Two separate approvals: permit and interconnection

Installing residential solar in California almost always requires clearing two independent processes, run by two different organizations:

Building/electrical permit: issued by your city or county's building department (sometimes contracted out to the county, or in a few cities, to a state-chartered municipal utility's own permitting office). This confirms the installation meets structural, electrical, and fire-safety code.
Utility interconnection approval: issued by your electric utility (an investor-owned utility like PG&E, SCE, or SDG&E; a municipal utility; or a public utility district). This confirms it's safe to connect your system to the grid and establishes your net-metering or net-billing arrangement.

These two approvals run on separate timelines with separate requirements. A city permit doesn't grant interconnection, and interconnection approval doesn't substitute for a building permit. Each GridPermit city guide lists both (the local permit authority and the interconnecting utility) as separately verified facts.

SolarAPP+ and expedited permitting

SolarAPP+ is a free online platform, developed with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, that many California cities and counties have adopted to let licensed contractors get instant, automated code-compliance review for eligible small residential rooftop solar (and, increasingly, paired battery storage) projects, with no manual plan-check queue. Separately, California's Solar Rights Act and Government Code §65850.5 require every city and county to offer some expedited, standardized review path for small residential rooftop solar, whether or not that city has adopted SolarAPP+ specifically.

Adoption and eligibility rules vary by city: some cities use SolarAPP+ for panels only, some extend it to battery storage, and system-size or property-type limits differ. GridPermit records what we've independently verified about each city's actual process rather than assuming every city works the same way.

Inspections

After permit issuance and installation, most jurisdictions require at least one inspection before the system can be authorized to operate: commonly a single combined final inspection for straightforward residential rooftop systems, though some cities require separate structural, electrical, or fire-safety inspections depending on the installation. Where we've verified a city's specific inspection process, it's listed on that city's guide page.

For how long review itself typically takes, see our statewide permit-timeline guide, aggregated from each city's own verified figures.

Battery storage

Home battery storage is typically permitted alongside solar (or added later) through the same city building-department process, and separately needs the utility's sign-off. California's Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP), administered under CPUC oversight, offers rebates toward qualifying battery storage installations for eligible households. Rules, funding availability, and rebate tiers change over time, so confirm current status directly with the SGIP program administrator before relying on a specific figure. For a walkthrough of the current SGIP rebate tiers, see our SGIP battery rebate guide.

Why requirements differ by city

California doesn't operate one statewide permitting office for solar. Each city and county runs its own building department, sets its own fee schedule, and chooses its own permitting software. Some contract their entire building department out to their county rather than staffing one directly. Which electric utility serves a city, and whether a Community Choice Aggregator (CCA) supplies the actual generation there, also varies block by block in some cases. GridPermit verifies these facts per city rather than generalizing from a neighboring jurisdiction or assuming a city matches its county's typical pattern.

How GridPermit verifies each city

Every fact on a city guide traces to an official source (a city or county government page, an adopted municipal code section, a utility's own program page, or a CPUC/California Energy Commission document) and carries a confidence score reflecting how directly that source supports it. A city is only published (marked "READY") once most of the fact categories we track are populated with real sourced information and the record passes an automated validator with zero errors. See our full methodology and READY criteria for the exact rule, including how we handle sources that disagree and how to report a correction.

Find your city

Browse every verified city on the California solar permit guide index, or use search to jump straight to a city, utility, or topic.

Counties with multiple verified cities:

Utilities with multiple verified cities:

PG&E (138)
SCE (104)
SDG&E (21)
SMUD (4)

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a solar permit the same thing as utility interconnection approval?

No. A building/electrical permit (issued by your city or county building department) confirms your installation meets construction and safety codes. Interconnection approval (issued by your electric utility) confirms it's safe to connect to the grid and sets your billing arrangement. Most homeowners need both, from two different agencies, and they're reviewed on separate timelines.

What is SolarAPP+?

SolarAPP+ (Solar Automated Permit Processing) is a free, NREL-developed online platform that many California cities and counties use to instantly review and approve eligible small residential rooftop solar (and increasingly battery) permit applications against code requirements, without a manual plan-check queue. Not every city uses it, and not every project qualifies even where it's offered — each city guide on this site states what we've verified about that city's specific process.

Does every California city permit solar the same way?

No. California law (including the Solar Rights Act and Government Code §65850.5) requires cities to offer an expedited, standardized process for small residential rooftop solar, but each city still runs its own permitting department, sets its own fees, and decides which platform (SolarAPP+, a different portal, or paper) it uses. Some cities also contract their building department out to their county. This is why GridPermit verifies each city individually rather than describing one statewide process.

What does GridPermit's confidence score mean?

Every fact on a city guide page is labeled High, Medium, or Low confidence based on how directly its cited source supports it — for example, a fact stated explicitly on a city's own current webpage is High confidence; a fact inferred from an older document or a source that couldn't be independently re-confirmed is Medium or Low. See our methodology page for the exact rule.