The ordinance will be brought back for final consideration on Aug. 11, said Steve Zurn, general manager of Glendale Water & Power.
Under current city policy, the framing of a rooftop panel needs to be inspected by a building official, while another inspector examines the electrical side of the project.
Building Official Jan Edwards said that would entail training current employees so they’re well versed in both aspects of solar-panel inspections.
The updated process applies to those panels that generate no more than 10 kilowatts, according to a city staff report.
Councilman Zareh Sinanyan said he’s had solar rooftop panels for two years and he’s glad the process for installing them could get easier.
“It’s a no-brainer. This is great,” he said. “We should embrace this wholeheartedly and extend it to as many people who want it — and it appears there’s no shortage of those — as possible.”
Glendale Water & Power has had a rebate program in place for 13 years, which has totaled $9.3 million in solar rebates from the state’s Public Benefits Charge program.
On July 1, the latest iteration of the program saw a record number of applications, with 186 filed.
“The money we had budgeted was used up in 10 minutes,” Zurn said.
He added that he will be returning to request $1 million in additional funding from the council to accommodate all of the applicants.
Councilwoman Paula Devine spoke positively of not only the effort to ease the solar-panel installation process, but also the ongoing commitment to promote the energy-saving technology.
“We’ve been offering the Solar Solutions program since 2002. This is nothing new to our city, and, of course, it is an attempt to remove obstacles for the residents,” she said.
©2015 the Glendale News-Press (Glendale, Calif.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
