Henry Greenidge from the NYC Office of the Mayor receives the SolSmart Gold designation. Photo Courtesy of The Solar Foundation.
As the nation increasingly turns to solar to power everyday lives, some of the country’s biggest cities are updating practices and removing institutional barriers to make it even easier for residents and businesses to go solar. Cities like Denver, New York City, and Louisville are going the extra mile to make sure businesses know that they’re “open for solar business” and are now being recognized for their efforts by the SunShot Initiative’s SolSmart program.
Launched in April 2016 and led by The Solar Foundation and International City/County Management Association, SolSmart empowers state and local governments to adopt processes that have been proven to enable local solar development. Participants work toward a gold, silver, or bronze designation and achieve recognition by taking steps toward reducing permitting and interconnection times, improving planning and zoning procedures, community engagement, and supporting market development.
This month, the SolSmart program recognized 11 communities across the country, growing its total to 36 communities representing 21.8 million people in 18 states.
- New York City and Louisville, Kentucky received the SolSmart Gold award. After previously receiving the SolSmart Bronze designation, Denver, Colorado was also awarded the gold designation.
- Charleston County, South Carolina and Pinecrest, Florida were designated SolSmart Silver after receiving the bronze designation in November 2016.
- Maricopa County in Arizona, Summit County in Utah, and cities Moab, Utah; Plano, Texas; and Salt Lake City, Utah were awarded the SolSmart Bronze designation.
The program also provides no-cost technical assistance to help communities achieve the SolSmart designation, ensuring that communities new to solar or without experience can still succeed. The program also offers the opportunity to host fully-funded program ambassadors called SolSmart Advisors. Cities and counties across the country applied to host these advisors, and in January 2017 11 were deployed to give one-on-one support to communities across the country. These fully-funded staff members will work alongside communities from Rhode Island to Oklahoma for up to six months to research local processes and identify best practices. Based on their findings, SolSmart Advisors make targeted, location-specific recommendations to modify or improve going solar practices. The program aims to deploy 30 SolSmart Advisors and soon, communities will have more opportunities to apply to host an advisor.
Joining the SolSmart community can help to boost emerging solar markets, create jobs, and enhance local economies. Over the next two years, the SolSmart program aims to recognize hundreds of communities, helping to reduce the cost of clean, solar energy and unlock solar access for cities and counties along the way.
Learn more about the program and apply now to become SolSmart.