New Jersey Enacts Landmark Law to Boost Rooftop Solar Access & Affordability

Overview

As household electricity rates rise and supply tightens, states are exploring policies that cut costs for residents and remove barriers to building more renewable energy. As 2025 closed, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed S4100/A5264 — a residential solar permitting overhaul that the legislature passed in the fall. This first-in-the-nation law takes a unique approach to reducing costs and delays for residential solar and battery systems by developing an in-state instant permitting platform.

• Catch Up Quick – Soft Costs: For residential solar, primary drivers of high costs and delays are “soft costs” — expenses related to administrative needs, rather than the hardware itself. To address this, states are exploring ways to cut government red tape and make it easier for their constituents to install solar and battery systems in their homes.

Why Instant Permitting Matters: Cutting Red Tape and Reducing Consumer Costs

Local permitting and inspection processes for residential solar are often complex and time‑consuming, adding administrative burdens that raise project costs and slow adoption among households. Nearly 80% of U.S. residential solar expenses come from soft costs such as permitting and inspection processes, making systems far more expensive than in peer countries. 

In New Jersey, permitting alone can add up to $4,500 to a rooftop solar system, making solar unaffordable for many families. These processes also strain local governments, whereas communities using instant permitting platforms such as the federal government’s SolarApp+ have saved more than 15,000 staff hours and cut permitting timelines by an average of 14.5 days. 

• Boosting Affordability: At a time when electricity bills are rising nationwide, expanding rooftop solar access through instant permitting also helps households shield themselves from increasing energy costs. New Jersey’s new law — outlined further below — makes it easier and cheaper for households to access these benefits.

Key Components of New Jersey’s Instant Permitting Legislation

New Jersey’s S4100/A5264 seeks to drive down costs and expedite the approval process for rooftop solar and home battery projects by doing the following: 

• Permitting Platform: The law tasks the state Department of Community Affairs (DCA) with creating an online and automated statewide permitting platform for rooftop solar and battery installations. 
• Platform Implementation: Within the next 18 months, the DCA will create a platform that can automatically approve code-compliant projects. 
• Community Choice: Under the law, communities can also choose to adopt an alternative automatic permitting software, with oversight from the DCA.

Additional State Approaches for Residential Solar Growth

States beyond New Jersey are also adopting streamlined permitting tools to cut soft costs and accelerate residential solar growth.

• Third-Party Platforms: Texas (SB 1202) and Florida (HB 683) both enacted legislation in 2025 that authorizes solar installers to use licensed third-party platforms to conduct reviews and issue permits using automated software.
• Local Government Minimum Standards: Maryland (SB 783) passed legislation in 2024 that requires local governments to use automated software that can instantly offer permits to residential solar and battery storage.

What’s Next for 2026

NCEL staff are closely tracking legislation filed this session related to reducing regulatory barriers to residential solar and batteries. Stay tuned for more information on bills related to plug-in solar, instant permitting, inspection reform, removing restrictions in homeowner and condo associations, and updating outdated codes and regulations.

To learn more about these types of policies and the other issues NCEL works on, visit our Issue pages.