A Philadelphia solar permit is an L&I problem before it is a PECO problem, and PECO still has to match. Crews treat EZ as “no drawings,” then get bounced for a missing dashboard screenshot, a truss roof without a PE letter, or a 6:12 row house that was never eligible. Standard path crews upload a pretty roof plan that disagrees with MyGeneration. Either way the row is still empty.
Athol Energy’s Philadelphia solar permit design sits with Pennsylvania design and PECO interconnection. We draw for installers. The package is site plan, roof plan, attachment layout with dimensions, electrical single-line with conductor and conduit notes, cut sheets, and placard notes, unless EZ truly applies and L&I does not want those plans.
What a Philadelphia solar permit package has to include
The Department of Licenses and Inspections issues the permits. Apply in eCLIPSE (or in person at the Permit and License Center). Every solar PV project needs an electrical permit. Licensed electrical contractors pull that work. If the project does not meet EZ, you also need a General Building Permit for Solar Panels and Structure, with plans, selected under Solar in the eCLIPSE construction miscellaneous menu.
EZ submittals, per the city page and the October 15, 2025 webinar slides, include a signed copy of the EZ Permit Standards, the executed contract between owner and licensed electrical contractor, and the PECO dashboard screenshot. If the roof is engineered trusses, add the PE letter. The letter must state that the roof framing was inspected, the proposed PV was evaluated, connections will not adversely impact structural integrity, and the framing can take the additional loads. That is not a generic “roof looks fine” email.
The EZ standard itself (PB_019, 2021 code on the document, posted in L&I’s 2026 media folder) is the eligibility test. Roofs steeper than 2:12 are out. ESS is out. Trusses are out unless the PE letter is attached. The licensed electrical contractor accepts structural responsibility for rooftop equipment. If your salesperson sold a 30-degree asphalt row on trusses with a battery, you are on full plans, a building permit, and probably PE stamping. Do not fight EZ. Miss it on purpose and draw.
Standard plans need to be professional quality and to scale. Older city process notes asked for three sets, 11 by 17 for drawings, PE on structural, and a design professional when cost exceeded $25,000. eCLIPSE has changed how copies work. The seal rules may still be in Administrative Code practice. Confirm before you bid an unstamped commercial roof. [CONFIRM AS OF 2026-09-19.]
Row roofs, party walls, and access
Philadelphia’s housing stock is party walls, parapets, and narrow access. Module count is decided by walking space and structural bays, not by a sales kW target. Show the parapet, the party wall, the hatch or roof hatch equivalent, and how a firefighter or an inspector gets onto the roof. Attachment dimensions have to hit real framing. If you cannot see joists, get photos from the scuttle. Guessing 16 inches on center on a 19th-century row is how you fail inspection with an approved plan.
Low-slope membranes on commercial South Philadelphia buildings are a different product: ballast versus attached, warranty letters, and maybe a building permit even when someone hoped for EZ. EZ’s slope cap (not greater than 2:12) is the opposite of a steep row. Read the standard. A 1:12 membrane might be EZ-eligible on slope and still fail because of trusses or ESS.
Historic districts add another clock. They are not L&I electrical. If the Historical Commission changes the street-facing row, PECO kW and the L&I drawings both move. Keep aesthetic boards out of the electrical upload unless asked.
Electrical sheet and PECO have to be twins
The permit design SLD shows interconnection method, inverter, disconnect, and conductor notes. PECO’s one-line shows the same PCC and a 24/7 accessible disconnect. L&I’s EZ screenshot has to show the capacity that is on both. If you cut four modules after a structural comment, refresh PECO before you re-upload eCLIPSE. A stale dashboard is a false statement to L&I.
Inspections are through a licensed electrical inspection agency, not a random out-of-city sticker. The agency reports to L&I. L&I issues the Certificate of Approval. PECO still needs Part 2, photos, and the bidirectional meter for PTO. Sequence those. Energizing on a city electrical final is still a PECO violation.
Tax clearance and insurance on file with L&I stall more jobs than wire size. If the electrician’s license is not associated with the eCLIPSE account, the application does not exist. Fix the account before you blame the drawings.
When we tell you EZ is a trap
Battery in the basement. Truss roof without a PE site visit. 4:12 or 6:12 asphalt. Supply-side tap that needs a building look at the service. Commercial occupancy. Any of those, we draw a full set. The full set is still the Athol package: site, roof, attachments with dimensions, SLD, cut sheets, placards, PE when L&I or the structure requires it. QA hunts missing dimensions, conflicting callouts, and incomplete cut sheets.
Send the address, roof type (truss versus rafter), slope, whether ESS is in the contract, PECO account, and the electrician’s license status. We will tell you EZ versus standard before anyone promises a no-plans filing.
eCLIPSE mechanics that stall otherwise good drawings
Licenses have to be associated with the online account before Solar even appears as a work type you can finish. Expediters can file. The owner still hires the electrical inspection agency. If that agency is not licensed for Philadelphia, L&I will not take the result. Out-of-city stickers that work in a Delaware County township do not close a city electrical permit.
Party-wall rows need a site plan that shows which address is in the application. A contractor who uses the neighbor’s roof for access still needs permission, and that is not an L&I electrical note. It is a construction note if you are walking the neighbor’s parapet. Keep it honest. Attachment dimensions still belong on the permitted roof.
Supply-side taps on tired service equipment are how standard-path jobs get a building look even when someone hoped for EZ. Draw the tap, AIC, and working space. If L&I wants a building permit for the service work, that is a second trade, not a cloud on the PV SLD. PECO still sees the same tap as the PCC. Refresh the dashboard if the kW changed while the tap was redesigned.
Cut sheets must match the schedule: module, inverter, racking. Incomplete cut sheets are a QA fail here because L&I and PECO will each bounce a SKU mismatch. Conflicting callouts (main breaker, disconnect ampacity) are the other fail. Placard notes for rapid shutdown should match the code edition L&I is using. [CONFIRM AS OF 2026-09-19: NEC edition cited on current L&I solar forms.]
If historic review or an HOA cuts the street-facing row after eCLIPSE approval, you need a revision, a new PECO dashboard, and possibly a lost EZ claim if you add ESS later. Sequence those reviews before you pour labor into a layout that cannot survive the block.
Row-house attics in South, North, and West Philadelphia are where EZ hopes die. If you cannot see joists, you cannot sign the EZ structural responsibility as an electrician, and you cannot skip the PE letter on trusses. Get the hatch open before you promise the owner a no-plans filing. If the contract already includes a battery, stop talking EZ. Draw the full set, pull building and electrical, and file PECO as a hybrid. L&I’s standard is not a suggestion.
Commercial roofs in the Navy Yard or along I-95 are never EZ. They need paths around RTUs, maybe ballast, and a PE. PECO Level 2 or higher sits beside that UCC clock. Keep the interconnection exhibit off the L&I roof plan unless the transformer pad is customer-owned. Match kW. Match SKUs. Match the dashboard screenshot to the permitted capacity every time you revise.
A Philadelphia solar permit is L&I plus PECO. Draw for both or wait on both. Phone +1 (209) 266-2669. If EZ is closed because the roof is over 2:12, the trusses lack a PE letter, or storage is in the scope, switch to the standard path before you pay the wrong fee. eCLIPSE still wants PECO dashboard proof. The electrical permit does not replace interconnection. Sequence L and I and Green Power Connection so inspection is not waiting on a portal that never saw the one-line. If the dashboard screenshot is stale, capture a new one the day you file. Reviewers bounce old proofs.