Solar Action Webinar Series

The Solar Action Webinar Series: Successes from the Rooftop Solar Challenge provides an overview of best practices developed by Rooftop Solar Challenge I teams from across the country. The 2013 series includes webinars on financing, zoning, net metering, interconnection, and inspection among other topics. The webinars were organized by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Office in coordination with the Solar Outreach Partnership.

Innovation and Success in Organizing and Strategizing a Local Solar Effort

June 14, 2013

This webinar highlights efforts to streamline solar permitting and planning processes in the metropolitan Kansas City region through the DOE Rooftop Solar Challenge. The Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) coordinated a region-wide effort to establish best management practices (BMPs), offer training sessions to broad and diverse audiences, conduct a financing options inventory, and recruit additional local governments to join the project. The Solar Ready KC partnership included five local governments and the largest electric utility in the region.

Presentation topics include an overview of the project, strategies employed, first-year outcomes, and lessons learned. Representatives from three of the grant partners—the cities of Kansas City, Missouri; Lee’s Summit, Missouri; and Olathe, Kansas—provide their insights on implementing solar friendly BMPs.

Presenters:

  • Georgia Nesselrode, Director of Local Government Services, MARC
  • Beth Dawson, Solar Energy Project Manager, MARC
  • Dennis Murphey, Chief Environmental Officer, City of Kansas City, Missouri
  • Susan Sherman, Deputy City Manager, City of Olathe, Kansas
  • Mark Dunning, Chief Building Inspector, City of Lee’s Summit, Missouri

Below are materials associated with the webinar.

Innovation and Success in Solar Permitting and Inspections

June 26, 2013

This webinar will highlight several successful initiatives to streamline and standardize permitting requirements for local solar photovoltaic (PV) projects.

The discussion will include:

  • Outcomes, financial impacts, and economic growth opportunities associated with the initiatives
  • An introduction to resources available to local jurisdictions and regional bodies that are interested in implementing solar permitting initiatives on their own.

Below are materials associated with the webinar.

Innovation and Success in Solar Financing

July 10, 2013

The webinar will discuss recent developments in solar project financing and customer acquisition models.

The discussion will include:

  • Overview of recent developments in third-party solar financing
  • Community shared solar
  • Bulk purchasing
  • CLEAN/Feed-in-Tariff programs.

Below are materials associated with the webinar.

Innovation and Success in Planning and Zoning

July 24, 2013

The webinar will highlight several successful initiatives to implement solar-friendly planes and zoning codes.

In many communities, local plans and zoning codes are silent on solar energy use, and this silence can create uncertainty about what types of solar energy systems are permitted in which locations. This uncertainty often presents a barrier to local solar market growth. For this reason local plans that include clear policies for solar energy use and zoning codes that establish clear use permissions and access protections to implement those policies are valuable components of any local effort to promote solar energy use.

In this webinar, Mayana Rice, AICP, Planning Administrator for the Greater Bemidji Area Joint Planning Board will discuss how the small town of Bemidji, Minnesota, is working to update its comprehensive plan to acknowledge the importance of solar energy as a local resource. Jeff Naftal, Manager of the Borough of Dormont, Pennsylvania, will share how his community helped develop and eventually adopt model zoning regulations that sanction solar development. Amy Heart, the Solar Program Manager for the City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, will explain how her city adopted a new set of permissive zoning regulations that allow accessory and primary-use solar installations in most locations citywide.

Below are materials associated with the webinar.

Innovation and Success in Solar Net Metering and Interconnection

August 7, 2013

This webinar will showcase the latest developments in solar net metering and interconnection.

The discussion will include:

  • An overview of recent successes in efforts to streamline interconnection and net metering application processes
  • Case studies and lessons learned
  • An introduction to new resources for improving net metering and interconnection policies and processes.

Below are materials associated with the webinar.