Rooftop solar spreads across Monterey County as permitting, financing hurdles come down.

Shiny headwear is a hot trend for local rooftops, as creative financing options and streamlined regulations put solar power within more property owners’ reach.

A new law, AB 2188, requires local governments across California to adopt a faster, easier permitting process for residential solar systems by the end of September. Pacific Grove’s ordinance, passed July 15, requires the building department to issue permits within three days of receiving an eligible application.

“It won’t be that hard to meet it,” says P.G./Monterey Building Official John Kuehl.

Another factor in the rise of solar: Monterey County jurisdictions now allow residents to use property assessed clean energy (PACE) financing. PACE lets property owners take out government loans to pay for eco-friendly upgrades, including solar, and pay them off on their property tax bills.

Some homeowners are signing on to power purchase agreements (PPAs), in which a solar company owns the system and leases it out. The customer has no up-front costs, instead paying the company each month at a fixed rate per kilowatt-hour.

San Mateo-based SolarCity, which has a Salinas operations center, offers PPAs among its four financing options. “Customers really like paying less for solar than they pay for utility power each month,” spokesman Jonathan Bass says.

But Antony Tersol, chief technology officer for Applied Solar Energy/Solex in P.G., argues a power purchase agreement is a bad deal over its 20-year term. “It’s like getting a car for no money down,” he says. “You end up paying a lot more.”