On September 10, 2013 about 50 people, mostly city staff, attended a workshop to learn more about how to create the environment in their communities to provide the pathway for developing local solar resources. The workshop was co-sponsored by the GreenStep Cities partnership and Met Council; organized by the National Association of Regional Councils.
The presentations included lots of fun facts about solar development nationally and globally, as well as how Minnesota ranks. In Minnesota, we had just over 11MW (which is just .15% of the US capacity) of solar installed at the end of 2012. That is just a drop in the bucket compared to some other states and the US has a total of 7.7 GW of total installed capacity and Germany which built 7.1 GW in just one year, 2012. The US is third in the world behind Germany and Italy for installed capacity. It’s important to remember that Germany has the same solar resource as Alaska!
The good news is that the installed cost of solar has come down from $12 per installed watt in 1998 to $5 in 2012. One of the ways to drive down the costs of solar are working to address the permitting time and cost. New York City is working to get the timeline from solar inception to completion to be 100 days. It is 8 days in Germany.
In addition to great national solar trainers, there was a local panel of speakers. Bill Grant, Energy Division Deputy Commissioner at the Department of Commerce talked about the recent suite of solar legislation that was passed; the progress and timing of some of the studies; and stakeholder processes that are happening now.
Peter Lindstrom, Mayor of Falcon Heights, shared what was involved in the thought process behind installing solar photovoltaics on City Hall. Their system has an 11 year payback and they had participated in a solar bulk purchasing and third-party owner to finance. They are now exploring options for community solar.
Jason Lindahl, planner with Rosemount (both Falcon Heights & Rosemount are GreenStep Cities), said that the impetus for their exploration of solar was due to their participation in the GreenStep Cities program. In addition, CERTs connected the City of Rosemount to the solar energy challenge technical resources via Brian Ross, the final speaker. The City worked with Brian and came up with an ordinance for renewable energy systems. He recommended that cities connect solar development to a comprehensive plan and create clear standards and regulations for contractors and residents to establish consistent performance standards.
Jason Willett, the Finance and Energy Director at Metropolitan Council, talked about their planned solar installation that will meet nearly 10% of the energy needs for the wastewater treatment plant at Blue Lake. The Met Council looked at a number of different options before choosing solar.
Brian Ross of CR Planning played clean-up batter, being the final speaker, and really stressed that comprehensive plans are essential for Solar Friendly Communities. Other important factors included developmental regulations, clear and predictable permitting processes, and public sector investment. Brian closed by talking about the numerous resources available to communities interested in creating the ideal conditions for local solar development.
More resources:
- Download presentations
- Get resources from solaroutreach.org
- Visit the Solar Energy Resource Center
- Check out the Solar Powering Your Community Guide
- Review GreenStep Cities model ordinances for solar
Click play below or click here to see more photos from the event.
