What is the Rooftop
Solar Challenge?
Twenty-two teams from across the country are taking the Rooftop Solar Challenge to make installing rooftop solar photovoltaics (PV) easier, faster, and cheaper for homeowners and businesses. With support from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), these collaborative teams are implementing streamlined and standardized processes that will dramatically improve local market conditions. The Challenge is part of the DOE SunShot Initiative, which seeks to make solar electricity cost competitive without subsidies by the end of the decade. More information
Streamlined SolarNon-hardware, or soft, costs associated with processes such as permitting and interconnection make up as much as 40% of the total installed cost of a rooftop PV system. Teams are implementing process improvements, which DOE measures with a point-scoring system, in three Challenge areas targeting soft cost reductions. |
Team ProgressThe Rooftop Solar Challenge teams represent 19 states and U.S. territories with a combined population of more than 47 million people. With the shared goal of making best practices widely available, the teams are implementing innovative solutions to streamline and standardize solar installations. |
Challenge OverviewDOE launched the Rooftop Solar Challenge to accelerate significant improvements in market conditions for solar photovoltaic projects. This nationwide effort engages diverse teams of local and state governments along with utilities, installers, non-governmental organizations, and others to make solar energy more accessible and affordable. These collaborative teams are working to reduce administrative barriers to residential and small commercial PV solar installations by streamlining, standardizing, and digitizing administrative processes. Complex permitting and grid connection processes increase the cost of solar energy systems and limit the growth of the solar industry. The objective of the Challenge is to make the process of going solar simpler, faster, and more cost effective for residents and businesses. 
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Streamlined SolarDOE is using a scoring system to measure each team's progress in four action areas:
By Feb. 14, 2013, awardees must earn a minimum total score of 800 out of 1,000 possible points.
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Team ProgressMore than 18,000 local jurisdictions have authority over solar PV permitting requirements, land use codes, and zoning ordinances nationwide. Challenge teams are developing model ordinances, building codes, guidebooks, education curriculum, and online permitting systems that are scalable within their regions and around the United States to streamline and standardize solar installations. Communities across the country can challenge themselves using many of the same resources that the Rooftop Solar Challenge teams will be using. Lessons learned from the Rooftop Solar Challenge will be shared through the SunShot Resource Center to spread best practices throughout the United States. Visit the SunShot Initiative website to learn more about each team's efforts.
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The Rooftop Solar Challenge supports the goals of the DOE Solar Energy Technologies Program and the SunShot Initiative, which seek to make solar electricity cost competitive without subsidies by the end of the decade.