Symbium’s instant solar permitting experience is live in Irvine

Symbium
4 min readSep 12, 2024

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — March 27, 2024 — Symbium is proud to announce the launch of instant permits for residential solar and battery storage systems in the City of Irvine. Powered by Symbium — the Complaw® company whose technology translates complex laws and regulations into simple workflows — this groundbreaking platform verifies code compliance in real time and automates the issuance of solar and energy storage permits, lowering the costs for permit applicants and homeowners and increasing the speed of installing residential solar energy systems in Irvine.

About California’s SB 379 Solar Permitting Mandate:

Symbium’s development of its solar permitting platform was catalyzed by SB 379. SB 379 is a recent California law that requires most California cities and counties to implement a platform that checks for code compliance and automates the issuance of permits for residential solar energy and storage systems. Such mandates to streamline the permitting of decarbonization projects are likely to proliferate as California and other States strive to meet the United States’s goal of 100% clean electricity by 2035.

Uniquely Symbium:

Real-Time Code Compliance. Symbium automatically verifies compliance with State and local regulations, ensuring that every residential solar and battery storage system adheres to the required standards. Symbium’s solution is SB379-compliant.

Instantaneous Regulatory Analysis. Symbium provides immediate, substantive feedback on why a scope of work meets or fails to meet regulatory requirements, allowing solar installers to quickly and easily revise their proposals to comply with the code.

Streamlined Permitting Process. Symbium provides a beautifully-designed, user-friendly interface for solar installers to submit their permit applications. Installers can apply for permits and pay permit fees directly through Symbium, which integrates seamlessly with Irvine’s permit tracking system. Symbium also automatically checks for a valid contractor’s and business license, instantly ensuring that only qualified professionals are submitting applications.

California jurisdictions are invited to get in touch with Symbium to learn more about how Symbium can help streamline solar and other decarbonization permit processes in their communities. Symbium is currently enrolling California cities and counties in two pilot programs for solar permits and express, no-plan permits.

Benefits of instant solar permits:

The automatic analysis of code compliance requirements and instant permit issuance not only ensures that every application meets the necessary safety and regulatory standards, decreases costs for homeowners and permit applicants, and increases the speed of solar installations. It will also aid the City of Irvine in meeting its objective to reduce administrative obstacles to building electrification, which will in turn help the City meet its goal to promote energy conservation and the use of renewable energy sources throughout the city in a cost-effective way.

With the launch of this online platform, not only will Irvine comply with California’s SB379 solar permitting mandate, it positions itself as a leader in fostering renewable energy adoption while prioritizing efficiency, safety, and sustainability. This initiative sets the stage for continued growth in the residential solar and battery storage sector, benefitting both the community and the environment.

How to apply for instant permits in Irvine using Symbium:

To get started with applying for a residential solar permit in Irvine, visit https://www.cityofirvine.org/building-permits-and-inspections/same-day-solar-permits.

About Irvine:

Incorporated in 1971, the City of Irvine is one of the nation’s largest planned urban communities and encompasses more than 65 square miles. It is located in the center of Orange County, California, approximately 45 miles south of Los Angeles and 90 miles north of San Diego. Irvine’s population is over 300,000 people, making it the 63rd largest city in the United States. Irvine has historically taken a proactive approach to energy planning, recognizing the value of looking forward, and aligning operations, infrastructure, policy, and planning to accommodate and take advantage of changes.

About Symbium:

Symbium is a San Francisco-based company that is reinventing the citizen-to-government experience, with an initial focus on permitting and incentives for residential decarbonization projects (e.g., installation of solar panels, energy storage, heat pumps). Homeowners and contractors use Symbium to instantly understand and visualize what’s possible on a property, and then submit and manage permit and rebate applications. Key to this disruption is Symbium’s proprietary Complaw® technology, which enables a Turbotax-like mechanization of regulatory analysis and was initially developed by the founding team at Stanford AI Lab. Symbium is an awardee in the esteemed Third Derivative, Uptake Alliance, and IMPEL cohort of climate tech companies, the winner of the 2023 Association for Corporate Growth Awards in San Francisco, was a finalist in the 2022 ALP Alain Colmerauer Prolog Heritage Prize, has been recognized as a GovTech 100 company in 2023, 2022, and 2021, is a 2021 American Bar Association Women of Legal Tech award recipient, and is a 2020 Ivory Prize awardee for innovations in regulation and policy to achieve housing affordability. Symbium is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

For press inquiries, contact press@symbium.com

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Symbium
Symbium

Written by Symbium

Accelerating clean energy projects everywhere through instant permitting.

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