Long Island solar permits by town and village

Which building department issues your permit

Long Island has more than 100 municipalities. Nassau County has three towns and two cities, Suffolk County has ten towns, and both counties contain many incorporated villages. If the property is inside an incorporated village, the village building department issues the permit and the town is not involved. If the property is in an unincorporated hamlet, the town building department is responsible. The cities of Glen Cove and Long Beach have their own departments.

The mailing address is not a reliable guide, because one post office name often covers several jurisdictions. The property tax bill, the section-block-lot number and the town or county parcel map show which municipality has jurisdiction. We confirm this for every address before preparing a proposal.

The unified solar permit on Long Island

In 2009, the Suffolk and Nassau County Planning Commissions and the Long Island Power Authority launched the Long Island Unified Solar Permit Initiative. Municipalities that adopted it agreed to use a standard Fast Track permit application for typical residential systems, waive or minimize the fee, and issue a determination within 14 days of a complete application. The initiative expected the standard criteria to cover about 90 percent of proposed residential installations.

Many Long Island municipalities have since adopted the New York State Unified Solar Permit. NYSERDA's adopter list, last updated in 2016, includes the City of Long Beach, the Towns of Babylon, Brookhaven, East Hampton, Huntington, Islip, Riverhead, Shelter Island, Smithtown, Southampton and Southold, and several villages. Because that list is dated, the municipality's current application is the authority. Current unified permit applications on Long Island typically require that the system meet the following conditions.

• A DC capacity of 25 kW or less. Larger systems use the general building permit application.
• Approval already granted by any architectural or historic review board that has jurisdiction over the property.
• No zoning variance or special use permit needed, or approval already granted.
• Mounting on a permitted roof structure, on a legal accessory structure, or on the ground on the same property.
• An installation contractor that meets the municipality's and the state's licensing requirements.
• On a sloped roof, panels mounted parallel to the roof surface.

How three municipalities compare

The published requirements of three Long Island municipalities show how much the details vary, even within the unified permit framework.

Large towns such as Hempstead, North Hempstead and Oyster Bay publish their own forms and fee schedules, and many villages use their own versions of the unified application. Fees and requirements change, so we confirm them for each address before preparing the filing.

Certificate of occupancy and open permits

The most common delay on a Long Island solar project is not the solar design. It is a structure on the property that the building department has no record of. Islip's application requires the system to be mounted on a structure with a proper certificate of occupancy, Laurel Hollow requires a permitted roof structure or a legal accessory structure, and East Hampton requires an existing survey showing that an accessory structure is legal before panels are placed on it. An enclosed porch, a converted garage, a rear addition or a shed built without permits can stop the application until the matter is resolved. An open permit left by a previous owner can have the same effect.

• Before signing a contract, obtain the property's building department file, including the certificate of occupancy and permit history.
• Compare the file with the house as it stands today, including additions, dormers, decks, pools and accessory buildings.
• If a structure lacks approval, decide whether to legalize it with as-built plans and inspections, or to place the array on a roof that is already compliant.
• Close any open permits from earlier work before the solar application is filed.

Plans, stamps and inspections

Each of the three municipalities reviewed requires construction documents signed by an architect or engineer licensed in New York State. The plans show the array layout, attachment details, the structural capacity of the roof and the electrical diagram from the array to the point of interconnection with the existing service.

Some Long Island municipalities rely on approved third-party agencies, rather than municipal staff, for the electrical inspection. Islip, for example, requires an electrical inspection by a company on its list of qualified electrical inspection agencies and an uploaded inspection certificate before closeout. East Hampton also requires signs at the utility meter and at an exterior AC disconnect indicating that a solar system is on site. Electrical work on our projects is performed by our licensed partner electricians.

PSEG Long Island interconnection and permission to operate

The building permit and the utility interconnection are separate approvals, and the system cannot be turned on until both are complete. PSEG Long Island administers interconnection on behalf of the Long Island Power Authority. Its published customer guide describes the following sequence.

• The contractor submits the solar application to PSEG Long Island for approval.
• A PSEG Long Island meter technician installs a net meter.
• After installation, the contractor sends the closeout documents to PSEG Long Island's Power Asset Management team.
• PSEG Long Island issues a Commercial Operations (COD) letter, which serves as permission to operate the system.

That guide dates from 2018, and net metering terms on Long Island are set by the LIPA tariff, which changes over time. Confirm the current interconnection process and crediting terms with PSEG Long Island before relying on any savings estimate.

How we manage Long Island solar projects

For Long Island homes and small commercial buildings, we identify the building department with jurisdiction, review the certificate of occupancy and permit history before a contract is signed, coordinate the roof and structural review with our partner engineers, and prepare a complete permit package for the town, city or village. Our licensed partner electricians perform the electrical work, and we schedule the third-party electrical inspection and handle the PSEG Long Island application, meter installation and closeout through to permission to operate.