Solar companies throw shade on permit system

A group of solar-industry contractors say apparent technical glitches are hampering the city Department of Planning and Permitting’s new software permitting system.

Since HNL Build’s Aug. 4 launch, many solar contractors say they’ve not received city-issued solar permits as quickly as they would like or expect of a new system meant to speed up DPP’s ability to process permits.

Historically, building permit applications to DPP — largely for residential and commercial projects — have taken up to a year or longer to process and obtain.

The rooftop solar industry’s complaints also come as an end-of-the year deadline looms for homeowners wishing to benefit from a 30% federal tax credit to install rooftop solar.

That tax incentive disappears Jan. 1.

“The launch of the City and County of Honolulu’s new permitting software, HNL Build, unfortunately has added to these challenges,” Hawaii Solar Energy Association board members wrote in an “Island Voices” column Aug. 24 in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

“Despite positive actions and prompt attention from the mayor’s team, permit processing in the City and County of Honolulu has moved backwards at the worst possible time,” the group asserted. “Further bold and immediate actions are necessary to allow thousands of families to reduce their energy costs before the end of 2025.”

HSEA did not immediately respond to further questions regarding HNL Build or the ending federal tax credit program. But in response to criticism of HNL Build’s roll-out, DPP Director Dawn Takeuchi Apuna said the department is still tweaking the new system.

She cited “some data- mapping issues” transferring data from the existing POSSE system to HNL Build, “which is understandable to the extent that the data is currently managed and structured in a very old system, over to a new, more streamlined system.”

“Also, registration of new HNL Build accounts that bring over existing POSSE accounts and permits has required individual attention.”

These issues were expected, Takeuchi Apuna added.

“We will continue to address these issues in the next few weeks and should attain stability of the overall system at the end of that time,” she said.

DPP reported granting 5,952 solar permits in 2024. In 2025, through July 28, when the department shut down POSSE, 3,430 solar permits were granted.

HNL Build has approved a total of 93 solar permits since Aug. 4, DPP said.

Takeuchi Apuna said the “issue that the solar industry is referring to is a system difference between POSSE and HNL Build, and the unique character and history of solar permit processing by DPP.”

She explained that POSSE was limited to building permits that included solar permits.

“A basic goal and now achievement of HNL Build is to process the full gamut of DPP permits, approvals, registrations, licenses, etc. — not just building permits,” she said.

In order to accommodate the entire range of DPP serv­ices, HNL Build required standardization of the permit intake, according to Takeuchi Apuna. This meant the physical location of a permit and approval, and any “flags” for that location, are determined from the beginning, prior to the applicant’s selection of the permit/approval type, such as solar permits.

“These flags, in the case of solar permit applications — in special management areas, areas subject to unilateral agreements, areas in special districts or areas subject to Ewa highway impact fees — indicate that additional review is required due to certain requirements of those flags,” she said.

In the POSSE system, single-family solar permits were processed through an “instant permit” that was highly configured to the solar industry’s requests to remove these flags, Take­uchi Apuna said.

“DPP paid the POSSE software company Computronix to configure the solar instant permit to remove these flags to the solar industry’s requests,” she added.

“We are working with (HNL Build software contractors) Speridian and Clariti to remove flags specific to solar permit applications, so that solar permits with these flags can also go through the HNL Build (instant permit) process, but for now we continue to expedite these specific solar projects through the regular permit process,” she said.

In HNL Build, single- family solar permits located on properties with these flags are restricted from moving forward through the instant permit process and must go through regular permit review processing, she said.

“DPP immediately addressed this issue by having these applications route through the regular permit review in an expedited manner,” she added. “Although it’s not an instant permit, DPP is striving to provide turnaround within 24 hours.”

Over the past few years, she said, “through the solar industry’s urging, solar permits have received these accommodations, including the unique POSSE configuration, because of their efforts to provide sustainable energy, and are therefore accustomed to a highly expedited process.”

“To be clear, solar permits continue to be processed as ‘quick’ permits in HNL Build, in the same manner and time as instant solar permits did in POSSE,” she said. “It’s only if the location of the solar project is in a flagged location.”

DPP selected Speridian and Clariti in December 2023 and began implementation of the software in March 2024.

To pay for the new system, DPP tapped about $5.4 million from the city’s Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program to cover the initial three years of the project.

Meanwhile, Takeuchi Apuna said her department is “aware of and is empathetic to the solar industry’s challenges with the looming federal tax credit expiration.” But, she asserted, DPP is not solely a solar permit-processing agency.

“We serve builders, contractors, homeowners and developers of all types with just as important needs and projects and must balance the needs of all to provide the best service across the public,” she said. “DPP has gone above and beyond the call to accommodate the solar industry over the years and has provided immediate assistance since the launch of HNL Build.

“We will continue to work with the solar industry,” she added.