SOLAR TODAY - May 2011 - Innovative Design

istrative barriers across all agencies added more
than $5,000 to $6,000 to the cost of each residential
PV installation in the city, CUNY’s solar
ombudsman began holding office hours at the
city Department of Buildings last September.
Ginsburg facilitated and streamlined applications
for property tax abatement (the city’s financial
incentive for solar) across permitting agencies
and educated installers. This simple step resulted
in a sixfold increase in approved applications.
“Solar installations in the city of New York
have more than doubled over the last year, and
we now have approximately 5.65 megawatts
installed. Better access to information is the
key, and the city has developed a suite of tools
to help both customers and those involved in
the process,” said Tria Case, CUNY’s university
director of sustainability.
She is referring to a solar map that provides
precise information about the size, angle and
shading of rooftops, providing customers and
installers the ability to quickly calculate the size
of a potential solar energy system. A second tool
the city is developing is an interactive installation
guide to help consumers map out their paths
through the process. A third project in the works
is a web-based tool that will allow relevant agencies
to virtually track the progress of each installation,
which will also increase transparency and
clarity for end-users.
Portland Helps Standardize State Permitting.
Portland’s Bureau of Development Services
(BDS) developed an electronic permit submittal
process for solar installers, enabling installers
to e-mail the permit application to the city
and expect a review for qualified projects within
approximately four working days. This process
eliminated an average office wait of three hours,
plus travel time, for contractors. Additionally,
permits were set to a flat fee for residential installations
meeting certain requirements, and staffers
at the permitting desk were trained as solar
experts to assist contractors who need help filing
permits in person. These easy-to-implement, lowtech
solutions created certainty for the contractors
and have decreased solar installers’ costs.
Much of Portland’s early work became a
model for standardized permitting that was instituted
across Oregon in 2010. The state implemented
a flat permit fee and created a provision
to waive unnecessary engineering requirements
for certain types of solar installations defined in
the code, specifically those on light-frame construction
with defined mounting requirements.
In addition, it adopted standardized documents
Permitting improvements have helped San Jose install more than 25 megawatts of PV. The Orchard School
District in San Jose features a 240-kilowatt system.
to simplify the process. The benefits of a uniform
code and standardized documents across
all jurisdictions are enormous.
“Oregon has many small jurisdictions,” notes
Jonathan Cohen, principal and founder of Imagine
Energy, an Oregon solar installer. “Often
the code and permitting officials in these areas
are very unfamiliar with PV and solar hot water
systems, so they tend to be very conservative,
often adding unnecessary costs and engineering
to local regulations. The Oregon standardized
code provides these smaller jurisdictions with a
blanket security.
“It also creates a more-level playing field, for
both installers that operate across jurisdictions
and for residents seeking solar,” says Cohen.
Further Streamlining Processes, Costs
Representatives from each of the 25 Solar
America Cities convened April 25 in Philadelphia
for their fourth annual meeting. They shared
best practices and insights and compared experiences
about emerging trends in urban solar
energy use. Much of the work performed in the
Solar America Cities helps to pioneer more efficient
ways of selling, permitting, installing and
interconnecting PV systems, reducing the nonhardware
costs associated with PV installation.
In line with its SunShot Initiative and this
complementary Solar America Cities work,
Much of the work performed
in the Solar America Cities
helps to pioneer more
efficient ways of selling,
permitting, installing and
interconnecting PV systems.
DOE anticipates additional investments toward
ensuring significant cost reductions in distributed
PV permitting in the next two years. Among
these, the DOE expects to announce a major
national contest in 2011 for state and local governments
to improve market conditions for PV
through more consumer-friendly processes. For
more information on future funding opportunities,
visit eere.energy.gov/solar/financial_
opportunities.html. ST
cupertino electric
Copyright © 2011 by the American Solar Energy Society Inc. All rights reserved.
solartoday.org SOLAR TODAY May 2011 47