Fremont Solar Vision

The City of Fremont is proud to be recognized as a national leader in advancing solar energy, adopting programs and practices that establish Fremont as a solar-friendly and environmentally sustainable community.

The City of Fremont has already demonstrated its commitment to solar in a number of ways, including:

  • Reducing residential solar permit fees and adopting a residential solar streamlining ordinance that reduces turnaround times for small rooftop solar permits to three days maximum, allows for electronic permit applications, and requires only one inspection for permit authorization, efforts that align with the Governor's Office of Planning and Research California Solar Permitting Guidebook and AB 2188 - Solar Energy: Permits .
  • Participation in the Department of Energy's American Solar Transformation Initiative (ASTI) to reduce transaction, administrative and construction costs related to residential and small commercial solar projects. Based on the work done between 2013 and 2015 to streamline the solar permitting process for residential PV installations, Fremont ranks #4 on the national Solar Roadmap Leaderboard!
  • Participation in the Northern and Central California SunShot Alliance, an initiative of PG&E and SolarCity, to reduce the time it takes to go from permitting to installation as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s SunShot Prize: Race to 7 Day Solar.

SolSmart Gold Designated Community


As a SolSmart Gold Designee with a "Special Award for Excellence in Permitting" and the 1st place winner of the National League of Cities SolSmart Challenge, Fremont is receiving national recognition from the U.S. Department of Energy's SunShot Initiative for adopting programs and practices that make it faster, easier, and more affordable to go solar. A SolSmart designation is a signal that the community is “open for solar business,” helping to attract solar industry investment, generate economic development, and create local jobs.

SolSmart Gold

About SolSmart Designation


To achieve designation, cities and counties take steps to reduce solar “soft costs,” which are non-hardware costs that can increase the time and money it takes to install a solar energy system. Examples of soft costs include planning and zoning; permitting; financing; customer acquisition; and installation labor. Soft costs now represent roughly two-thirds of the total price of an installed residential system. Reducing these costs leads to savings that are passed on to consumers.

    Read the City's SolSmart commitment letter here.