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Brookline.News
Professional local journalism in Brookline MA
In Massachusetts, the average project time for a solar panel installation is 94 days. In Brookline, it’s 125 days.
For longtime Brookline resident David Mendels, six months went by due to permitting delays before he was given the green light to install solar panels on his roof.
An energy affordability omnibus bill in the Massachusetts state legislature could address permitting delays like Mendels’ for solar panel and battery installations by automating the permitting process.
In addition to solar permitting, the bill, passed in the House and Senate and currently in inter-chamber negotiations, proposes strategies to reduce energy bills by reforming gas infrastructure spending, paring down energy efficiency programs, and modernizing the grid.
After six months of delays, Mendels received his solar permit, but his installation ultimately failed due to a structural issue in his roof. He hopes automated permitting will help both residents and installers save time and money.
“If the permitting process had been automated and clear and taken 24 hours, I’d be in the exact same position. The whole thing would have taken a day instead of six months, and everyone would have saved money, and they could have moved on to their next customer,” Mendels said.
Two-year Brookline resident Alaina Kinol made the switch last December to solar, just under the wire to receive a 30% federal solar tax credit which expired under the Trump administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Due to permitting delays and electrical code issues, Kinol waited a full year before having her solar panels and battery installed.
Like Mendels, Kinol wanted to reduce her family’s electricity bills and carbon footprint. In addition to preventing indoor air pollutants from using gas, she also wanted to reduce power outages in her home because her child’s medical equipment relies on electricity.
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“We had one really scary day before the solar and battery were installed where the power went out and we weren’t sure we would be able to turn on his oxygen concentrator at night which was, at that point, essential for him,” Kinol said.
Matthew McAllister, who leads an automated solar permitting software non-profit called Solar APP+, envisions shopping for solar panels under this new bill could become as easy as “going to Costco.”
A customer could spend 30 minutes filling out their form Monday morning, receive a permit by Monday afternoon if their application passes building and electrical codes, and have solar panels installed by that week.
By reducing permitting times, McAllister estimates automated permitting could reduce soft costs of solar panel installation by about $3,000. Soft costs include operating costs for warehouse storage, equipment, and marketing which ramp up as customers cancel installations due to long wait periods. Solar currently costs seven times more to install in the US than in places like Australia and Germany, according to non-profit research and advocacy group Permit Power.
“We want to reduce those upfront soft costs, so that way residents can benefit from the long-term savings that solar provides them,” McAllister said.
Kinol’s solar and battery installation ended up costing $60,000, a third of which was covered by federal credits. Now that her family no longer has to pay a monthly electricity bill, Kinol said this upfront cost was worth the peace of mind of the project paying for itself over time amid volatile energy prices.
While the state bill is pending, one of several big pieces of legislation winding their way through late summer negotiations, Brookline officials offered varying perspectives.
Brookline Sustainability and Natural Resources Director Alexandra Vecchio wrote to Brookline.News that automated permitting would “allow us to more easily meet our climate goals,” given that the software could reduce time and cost barriers to solar adoption in Brookline.
There have been 11 installations in 2026 so far, according to recently-retired Building Commissioner Dan Bennett.
But Bennett expressed skepticism toward automated permitting.
The current permitting process involves one of five building inspectors manually reviewing applications that fall within their districts, according to Bennett. “It’s very difficult to do a one-size-fits-all because each city and town is different [in permitting codes],” he said. “[Permit applicants] are not going to get the permit in a day. We always have to review [permits].”
The bill would also automate permitting for solar batteries which are regulated by the Fire Department, meaning permitting requires interfacing with multiple departments.
Kinol recalled that one of the delays was due to town codes requiring her to move a solar meter from inside to outside of her house for easy inspection. After waiting two months for the issue to resolve, she took it upon herself to reach out to the Building Department. Ultimately, the town found fire hazards in her home’s electrical line which required renovations over the summer, though the panels were finally installed in December.
Kinol says she’s grateful for the city’s electrical inspection, but still would like a more streamlined permitting process with proper oversight.
Bennett said he would have more faith if local building inspectors were more in the loop, but so far, the state has not provided resources to Brookline regarding automated permitting. “In order for this to work properly and expedite the permitting process, they’re going to have to educate the building departments and electrical wiring inspectors,” Bennett said.
According to McAllister, Solar APP+ was able to reduce failed inspections when adopted in Connecticut. “We are just as safe as traditional permitting,” he said. Similar bills have also been brought forth in Rhode Island and implemented in New Jersey and Virginia. Solar APP+ has increased solar adoption in Arizona municipalities by 140% from 2020 to 2023 compared to those that didn’t use Solar APP+, according to Nicole Gentile, advocacy director of Permit Power.
McAllister noted that Solar APP+ would meet with local building officials to agree upon interpretations of permitting codes ahead of implementation to ensure the software is up to date. “We want to go right to the source of how the rules and standards set for what is safe in our community and have them sign off…that this tool is correctly interpreting every provision of the national codes and standards,” McAllister said.
The fate of automated permitting in Massachusetts and Brookline rests on a conference committee which began meeting last month to negotiate the final version of the energy affordability omnibus bill which passed the House in February and Senate in July.
On the heels of negotiations came a letter from Maura Healey asking for “swift action” to bring the final bill to her desk.
For Kinol, an expedited permitting process would have brought much-needed benefits of solar much sooner. “We could have less energy that was coming from mixed sources like gas power plants…as well as the access to resilience to power outages which was important to us because of the medical needs that we had,” she said.
“[That] was always in the back of my mind as we got delay after delay,” Kinol said.
Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled the name of Matthew McAllister. The article has been updated.
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