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6/2/2026
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House approves Rep. Boylan bill to make residential solar easier, cheaper to install
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STATE HOUSE — The House today voted to approve legislation from Rep. Jennifer Boylan to make solar systems easier and cheaper to install for Rhode Island residents.
“This bill is designed to help Rhode Islanders harness the energy of the sun by reducing the ‘soft costs’ of residential solar permitting and installation,” said Representative Boylan (D-Dist. 66, Barrington, East Providence). “By automating the permitting process for residential and small-scale solar, we can make clean energy more affordable, quicker to implement and removes inconsistencies from town to town. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel here, because the technology to improve the permitting process for everyone from homeowners, contractors and municipalities already exists. We just need to use it.”
The Solar Cost Reduction Act (2026-H 7726A) would streamline the permitting process for home solar systems by reducing unnecessary documentation, preventing redundant reviews, and allowing for instant code-compliant permitting.
The bill would institute a statewide electronic permitting platform for residential solar systems that would accept applications from contracts 24/7, automatically perform code compliance checks and generate approvals, permits, or permit revisions instantly for code compliant applications.
The U.S. Department of Energy has already developed a free tool called SolarAPP+ that fulfils these requirements, though the bill would not require Rhode Island to use it. SolarAPP+ is already in use over 450 municipalities across 18 states.
“As energy bills rise, Rhode Islanders are increasingly turning to rooftop solar and battery storage to lower their bills and strengthen their energy resilience,” said Ruthie DeWit, Northeast State Affairs Director for the Solar Energy Industries Association. “By making the process of going solar as smooth as possible, the Solar Cost Reduction Act is a win-win for ratepayers, local businesses, and grid reliability. Smart solar permitting will cut red tape that can add up to $6,000 to the cost of an average system while still ensuring the system’s safety and reliability. The solar and storage industry thanks Representative Boylan for her thoughtful leadership and partnership.”
Representative Boylan’s bill would maintain existing building, electrical and fire codes and safety standards and leave in place existing local permitting and zoning authority, including the authority of municipalities to set permitting fees and perform inspections.
“The Solar Cost Reduction Act will help to streamline the Rhode Island residential solar permitting process and help to eliminate some of the redundant soft costs that drive up the installation costs for RI homeowners. Creating an up-to-date repository of all municipal solar ordinances will help installers and homeowners design solar solutions that are feasible without costly time-consuming engineering changes. As the solar industry matures, it is important that new legislation is passed that evolves with the technology. This bill is a good first step for Rhode Island to bring down the cost of solar by eliminating some of the outdated red tape without sacrificing safety,” said Dana Weinberg, business director for Sunwatt Solar.
Michael Kadish, co-founder and executive director of the Ocean State Climate Alliance, said: “The House’s passage of the Solar Cost Reduction Act is an important step toward lowering energy costs for Rhode Islanders. This is a practical reform that cuts unnecessary red tape, maintains safety standards and costs the state nothing. We thank Representative Boylan, House leadership and the broad coalition of business, labor, environmental and municipal leaders who helped move this bill forward. We look forward to working with the Senate to send this commonsense reform to the governor’s desk.”
The bill now goes to the Senate, where Sen. Bridget Valverde (D-Dist. 35, North Kingstown, East Greenwich, South Kingstown) has introduced similar legislation (2026-S 2801).
For more information, contact:
Tristan Grau, Publicist
State House Room B20
Providence, RI 02903
401.222.4935
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