California solar permitting
How much does a solar permit cost in California?
California caps a residential solar permit fee at $450 (plus $15 per kW above 15 kW) under Government Code §66015, and requires most cities to run an expedited or fully automated permitting process. What a given city actually charges and how fast it moves still varies — see your city in the table below.
What California law requires, everywhere
- A cap on the fee. Government Code §66015 presumptively caps a residential solar permit at $450, plus $15 per kW above 15 kW. A city can charge more only if it formally documents that its own cost is higher. The cap covers solar — not battery storage on its own.
- A streamlined path. Government Code §65850.5 (AB 2188) has required every California city and county since 2015 to run an expedited, checklist-based permitting process for rooftop solar of 10 kW AC or smaller.
- Instant online permitting, in most jurisdictions. Government Code §65850.52 (SB 379) requires most cities and counties to offer an automated online platform — SolarAPP+ is the example the statute names — for solar and solar-plus-storage up to 38.4 kW AC. The deadlines passed in September 2023 and September 2024. Compliance is self-reported and not certified by the California Energy Commission, so whether it's live in a given city is a question worth confirming directly.
None of the above promises how long any one city's permit actually takes. That is each city's own decision — which is why the table below is checked city by city rather than assumed.
Permit fee and turnaround, by city
32 of these 54 cities have been checked directly against that city's own website (labeled Verified below). The rest are labeled Statewide baseline — real cities we serve, shown against the legal floor above rather than an unconfirmed number. Every row links to that city's own page for the full detail.
| City | Permitting authority | Permit fee | Typical turnaround | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anaheim | City of Anaheim | UNKNOWN — fees increase 2026-08-24 | 'If under 10kW, permit issued without review' | Verified |
| Brea | City of Brea | City page literally reads 'A processing fee of will be charged' — the number is missing from the live page | Not published by the city | Verified |
| Calabasas | City of Calabasas | Not published by the city | Not published by the city | Verified |
| Camarillo | City of Camarillo | $450 statewide cap — not confirmed with this city | Not confirmed — statewide baseline only | Statewide baseline |
| Chino | City of Chino | Not published by the city | Not published by the city | Verified |
| Chino Hills | City of Chino Hills | $450 statewide cap — not confirmed with this city | Not confirmed — statewide baseline only | Statewide baseline |
| Corona | City of Corona | Not published by the city | Not published by the city | Verified |
| Costa Mesa | City of Costa Mesa | Not published by the city | 3 business days for up to 10kW AC single/duplex meeting the checklist (per municipal code) | Verified |
| Diamond Bar | City of Diamond Bar | $25 SolarAPP+ + city fee (FY26-27 schedule not retrieved) | SolarAPP+ review instant; next-day inspection slots | Verified |
| Downey | City of Downey | First 3 SolarAPP+ revisions free, $25 each after + city fees | 'Near instant' | Verified |
| Eastvale | City of Eastvale | $450 statewide cap — not confirmed with this city | Not confirmed — statewide baseline only | Statewide baseline |
| El Segundo | City of El Segundo | Not stated; 3 free revisions | 'Instantaneous permit issuance' | Verified |
| Fontana | City of Fontana | $450 statewide cap — not confirmed with this city | Not confirmed — statewide baseline only | Statewide baseline |
| Fullerton | City of Fullerton | $25 SolarAPP+ (3 revisions) + city fee | Instant for PV-only | Verified |
| Huntington Beach | City of Huntington Beach | $35 SolarAPP+ + city fees | Instant on approval + payment (vs 5-10 business days conventional) | Verified |
| Irvine | City of Irvine | Not published by the city | Same day (expedited); ~5 working days standard | Verified |
| Laguna Niguel | City of Laguna Niguel | $450 statewide cap — not confirmed with this city | Not confirmed — statewide baseline only | Statewide baseline |
| Lake Forest | City of Lake Forest | $25 SolarAPP+ + city fee by valuation + 3.29% MyGovPay processing | Instant on approval + payment | Verified |
| Lakewood | City of Lakewood | Not published by the city | Not published by the city | Verified |
| Long Beach | City of Long Beach | PV+ESS $447.45 | PV only $386.62 | ESS only $264.95 | No formal SLA; avoids plan review if checklist fully met | Verified |
| Los Angeles | City of Los Angeles | Not published (AB1124 caps at $450 for up to 15kW) | Same day, no plan check | Verified |
| Menifee | City of Menifee | $450 statewide cap — not confirmed with this city | Not confirmed — statewide baseline only | Statewide baseline |
| Mission Viejo | City of Mission Viejo | Not published by the city | Not published by the city | Verified |
| Moorpark | City of Moorpark | $450 statewide cap — not confirmed with this city | Not confirmed — statewide baseline only | Statewide baseline |
| Murrieta | City of Murrieta | $450 statewide cap — not confirmed with this city | Not confirmed — statewide baseline only | Statewide baseline |
| Newbury Park | City of Thousand Oaks | $450 statewide cap — not confirmed with this city | Not confirmed — statewide baseline only | Statewide baseline |
| Newport Beach | City of Newport Beach | Not published by the city | Not published by the city | Verified |
| Norco | City of Norco | $450 statewide cap — not confirmed with this city | Not confirmed — statewide baseline only | Statewide baseline |
| North Hollywood | City of Los Angeles | Not published (AB1124 caps at $450 for up to 15kW) | Same day, no plan check | Verified |
| Ontario | City of Ontario | $450 statewide cap — not confirmed with this city | Not confirmed — statewide baseline only | Statewide baseline |
| Orange | City of Orange | Not published by the city | Not published by the city | Verified |
| Oxnard | City of Oxnard | $450 statewide cap — not confirmed with this city | Not confirmed — statewide baseline only | Statewide baseline |
| Pasadena | City of Pasadena | Not published by the city | Not published by the city | Verified |
| Placentia | City of Placentia | $450 — confirmed with the city; matches the state cap | Not confirmed — statewide baseline only | Statewide baseline |
| Rancho Cucamonga | City of Rancho Cucamonga | 2021 schedule: $156 + 7% tech fee up to 15kW (may be stale) | Not published by the city | Verified |
| Rancho Palos Verdes | City of Rancho Palos Verdes | $25 SolarAPP+ + city fees | Same day (was ~3 days pre-SolarAPP+) | Verified |
| Rancho Santa Margarita | City of Rancho Santa Margarita | Not published by the city | Not published by the city | Verified |
| Redlands | City of Redlands | $450 statewide cap — not confirmed with this city | Not confirmed — statewide baseline only | Statewide baseline |
| Riverside | City of Riverside | $25 SolarAPP+ + city solar permit fee | Not published by the city | Verified |
| San Clemente | City of San Clemente | $450 statewide cap — not confirmed with this city | Not confirmed — statewide baseline only | Statewide baseline |
| Santa Ana | City of Santa Ana | $35 SolarAPP+ (3 revisions) + city fee | Instant — 'permit issued right away' | Verified |
| Santa Monica | City of Santa Monica | $25 SolarAPP+ + city fees | Fully automated end-to-end; no day count published | Verified |
| Sherman Oaks | City of Los Angeles | Not published (AB1124 caps at $450 for up to 15kW) | Same day, no plan check | Verified |
| Simi Valley | City of Simi Valley | $450 statewide cap — not confirmed with this city | Not confirmed — statewide baseline only | Statewide baseline |
| Temecula | City of Temecula | $450 statewide cap — not confirmed with this city | Not confirmed — statewide baseline only | Statewide baseline |
| Thousand Oaks | City of Thousand Oaks | $450 statewide cap — not confirmed with this city | Not confirmed — statewide baseline only | Statewide baseline |
| Torrance | City of Torrance | Not published (Gov Code 66015 methodology) | Not published by the city | Verified |
| Tustin | City of Tustin | SolarAPP+ fee + city fees (amounts not stated) | Next-day inspections if requested by 3:00 PM prior business day | Verified |
| Upland | City of Upland | $450 statewide cap — not confirmed with this city | Not confirmed — statewide baseline only | Statewide baseline |
| Ventura | City of Ventura | $450 statewide cap — not confirmed with this city | Not confirmed — statewide baseline only | Statewide baseline |
| Whittier | City of Whittier | SolarAPP+ fee (unstated) + city fees | Instant, no city plan review | Verified |
| Woodland Hills | City of Los Angeles | Not published (AB1124 caps at $450 for up to 15kW) | Same day, no plan check | Verified |
| Yorba Linda | City of Yorba Linda | $450 statewide cap — not confirmed with this city | Not confirmed — statewide baseline only | Statewide baseline |
| Yucaipa | City of Yucaipa | $450 statewide cap — not confirmed with this city | Not confirmed — statewide baseline only | Statewide baseline |
Sourced from src/data/cities.ts. Fees and processes change — each row links to that city's own page, and we confirm current numbers with the city before your permit is filed.
Frequently asked
- Is there a statewide cap on solar permit fees in California?
- Yes. Government Code §66015 presumptively caps a residential solar permit fee at $450, plus $15 per kW above 15 kW. A city can charge more only if it formally documents that its own cost to process the permit is higher.
- What is SolarAPP+?
- SolarAPP+ is the automated online permitting platform named in Government Code §65850.52 (SB 379). Most California cities were required to offer an automated platform like it — for solar and solar-plus-storage up to 38.4 kW AC — by September 2023 or September 2024, depending on the city. Compliance is self-reported and not certified by the California Energy Commission, so whether it's actually live in a given city is worth confirming directly.
- Does the fee cap apply to battery storage too?
- No — the §66015 fee cap covers solar, not a stand-alone battery. A battery installed on its own has no statewide fee cap or expedited-permitting requirement; storage installed together with solar is reached by §65850.52 (SB 379) only where that city's automated platform actually supports it.
- Why do some cities in the table show a cap instead of an actual fee?
- Because we only publish a city's specific permitting facts after checking them against that city's own website. Cities marked “statewide baseline” below haven't been checked yet, so the table shows the legal floor that applies everywhere in California instead of repeating an unconfirmed number.
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