Israel: Relaxing regulatory policies to accelerate the 1.6GW rooftop PV plan

Israel: Relaxing regulatory policies to accelerate the 1.6GW rooftop PV plan

The Israeli government is simplifying the approval process for rooftop PV projects to speed up the deployment of domestic PV systems and plans to add 100,000 PV systems by 2030.

Optimizing the approval process for residential PV to accelerate the rooftop PV plan

The country's Planning and Building Committee has approved the exemption of building permits required for PV system installations, no longer requiring certification by electrical engineers, but allowing any licensed electrician to provide compliance certificates to ensure that the system meets safety and regulatory requirements.

Previously, the Israeli government announced the "Rooftop PV Plan", to add 1.6GW of residential rooftop PV capacity, which is expected to cover 15% of residential buildings nationwide.

Small energy storage systems will also benefit

At the same time, the Israeli Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure is promoting a policy to extend the scope of building permit exemptions to small energy storage facilities March 11, 2025, the National Planning and Building Committee approved a regulatory amendment to exempt energy storage systems of 600kWh and below and covering no more than 5 square meters from construction permit requirements.

According to the ministry's calculations, such a system can supply electricity to a residential building with 10 apartments for 2 to 3 hours and can be used in agriculture, public and commercial buildings. The introduction of energy storage will extend the use time of renewable energy and provide protection in power outages or emergencies. In addition, the ministry emphasized that the advantage of energy storage systems is to extend the supply time of renewable energy and reduce electricity costs through peak storage.