City eliminates solar panel permit fees

Scotts Valley is on the road to greener horizons — by making solar energy more accessible to locals. Like many jurisdictions, including Santa Cruz, Berkeley, San Jose and Elk Grove, the city has waived permit fees for homeowners and businesses to install solar panels.
The $162 building permit fee and $90.25 electrical permit fees were waived at last week’s City Council meeting. Applicants would still pay a $62 application fee to the city and for the solar energy system itself. The average home system costs about $25,000, according to Santa Cruz dealer Independent Electric Solar.
Scotts Valley vice mayor Jim Reed said eliminating the fees is the first step in making solar installation a more widespread reality.
“The amount that will be saved is largely a token amount — it’s small, but anything we can do to increase awareness and promote solar energy is a good thing,” he said.
While costs to install solar panels have gone down significantly in recent years — and even more so in the past six months — it’s a pricey endeavor, because the photovoltaic panels are expensive and run on a cost-per-watt system. Home-sized solar energy systems run an average price of $8.30 per watt for a residential unit, with a capacity of 3 kilowatts of instantaneous electricity production — plenty for the average home.
At the meeting, Reed asked the city to produce a document for the public that provides an easy-to-follow guide to companies that offer solar financing options.
In addition, Reed asked city staff to access Assembly Bill 811, which enables cities to provide low-interest loans, using money from property taxes, for clean energy improvements.
The goal is to follow the example set by Berkeley, which offered $1.5 million in financing for solar energy investments earlier this year.