At the July 18 City Council meeting, residents of Bloomington were presented with a compelling proposal to adopt SolarAPP+, an innovative automated online platform aimed at significantly streamlining the permitting process for residential solar and battery storage projects. The presentation highlighted SolarAPP+'s potential to dramatically reduce bureaucratic delays and associated costs, thereby accelerating the city's transition towards greater renewable energy reliance.

During the public comment section, John Crampton, a prominent advocate for the system, articulated the existing challenges homeowners and installers face when navigating traditional permitting procedures. These manual processes are often time-consuming and can add considerable expense to a solar installation. Crampton underscored this financial burden by stating, "Research shows that approximately six to seven thousand dollars of the cost of rooftop solar projects in the United States, roughly 40 to 60 percent, are the result of permitting and bureaucratic delays." This substantial cost component, he argued, acts as a barrier to wider solar adoption.

Developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), SolarAPP+ serves as a national standard for instant, online permitting of qualifying solar installations. Instead of requiring multiple rounds of manual reviews by city staff, the platform automatically checks submitted designs against local and national electrical and building codes. This automation means that eligible solar projects, which currently can take weeks to approve, could potentially receive immediate approval, drastically cutting down wait times and administrative effort for both applicants and city departments. The system is designed to handle routine installations efficiently, freeing up city resources for more complex projects.