How long does a solar permit take in Chicago?
In Chicago, the typical solar permit took 8 days from application to issue, across 3,896 permits issued from September 2024 to September 2026.
The two steps
The numbers behind the chart
| Step | Median | Middle half | Permits | Permits issued |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Application to permit issued | 8 days | 4 days to 15 days | 3,896 | September 2024 to September 2026 |
Solar installers with the most jobs in Chicago
| Rank | Contractor | Jobs | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sunrun Installation Services | Get a quote | |
| 2 | Bright Planet Solar Inc | Get a quote | |
| 3 | Freedom Forever Illinois LLC | Get a quote |
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Permit wait by year issued
| Year issued | Jobs | Median | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 699 | 12 days | 7 days to 19 days |
| 2025 | 1,924 | 6 days | 2 days to 13 days |
| 2026 | 1,273 | 10 days | 6 days to 16 days |
Why it takes this long
- 3% of permits were issued the day they were applied for, and 91% within 30 days (3,896 permits).
- The time to final inspection is not shown: the city's permit data has no final inspection date.
Days are counted between the dates on each city permit: application_start_date, issue_date. Median and middle half: half of the jobs took longer than the median; the middle half runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile. A figure is shown only when it rests on 30 or more permits. Kinds of work are sorted by the same rules as our contractor lists. Source: Chicago Building Permits (data.cityofchicago.org ydr8-5enu), read 2026-09-24. The same figures as data: solar.json.