If you’ve made the decision to install solar panels in your home, you’re making a smart choice that can save you money and help protect the environment. Green building and green living are the wave of the future, and solar panels can be a big part of that.
However, you may be wondering if you need a building permit to add solar panels to your home. The answer is “yes” — you will need a permit. Any addition to your home is likely to require a permit, and adding anything, including photovoltaic panels, without learning about and applying for the proper permissions can have serious consequences.
Remember that regulations can vary from state to state, so it’s important that you follow the regulations specific to the state in which you intend to add solar panels to your building.
Getting a permit to install solar panels isn’t just about going down to City Hall and filling out a form. There may be local, state and federal building or safety standards you must comply with. Even if you’ve had solar panels installed before, the rules may have changed, or the rules may be different for your new location, so you still need to verify that you’ll be in compliance.
You may also need to have a local electrical inspector approve that you’re meeting the appropriate electrical codes. Presumably, you already have homeowners’ insurance. Your insurer may also have regulations about any additions to your house that you need to comply with in order to avoid invalidating your policy. The power company may also need to be notified and clear your solar panel plans.
Failure to obtain all the needed permits and clearances before adding your solar panels can be very costly, causing you to incur significant fines. Furthermore, you will almost certainly be required to reverse the addition, meaning additional costs while you end up right back where you started.
The best way to make sure your solar panel addition will not violate any codes is to have a professional solar panel installer come in, assess your building and your project, determine the permissions you will need and help you obtain them. One of the reasons people resist this idea is because they think it will be cheaper to install solar panels themselves. This is usually wrong for several reasons.
The first, as you can see, is that without the necessary experience, you might not get all the permissions you need, and this can be far costlier than having professionals do the job. But even beyond this, there are a number of expensive pitfalls you can encounter while attempting to install your own solar panels, including failure to install the panels correctly — which might necessitate professional intervention even after you spend a lot of time and money on the job — or damaging your roof, requiring an expensive roof repair that will probably not be covered by your homeowners’ insurance.
On top of all of this, attempting to install solar panels yourself can present a safety issue. You can fall off or through your roof while attempting to install, panels can fall and hurt someone below or you may be hurt by electrical wiring.
This is why, if you’re interested in adding solar panels to your building in Pennsylvania or Maryland, it’s important that you contact Bright Eye Solar today. Bright Eye Solar is a highly experienced solar panel installer in Pennsylvania and Maryland that knows the local regulations and can help homeowners obtain the proper permits.
We’ll talk to you and make a thorough inspection of your location, providing a comprehensive, no-obligation proposal before we do any work, so you know exactly what to expect from your new solar panel installation. Bright Eye Solar will put the panels in right the first time, so you get maximum energy savings from your solar panel installation in addition to the great look that comes from a professionally done installation job.
If you’d like to schedule a comprehensive, no-obligation assessment of your proposed solar panel installation project in Pennsylvania or Maryland, or if you have any questions about solar panel installation, the benefits of solar energy, the necessary permits and how to obtain them or any related inquiries, contact Bright Eye Solar now.