Strategies for Local Governments to Promote Solar

A variety of strategies and programs can be used by local governments to promote distributed solar installation. These programs or goals can be attempted in tandem or in a stepwise fashion. First, a goal for solar should be set to provide an example of solar installation benefits to the community. Then, solar permitting should be improved to allow for less time and money spent in the permitting process. After that, outreach programs for solar energy should be implemented to spread information regarding solar to the community. As part of this outreach, educational programs can be offered to inform the public about solar benefits and financing options. After these steps, collaborative purchasing and financing programs should be considered to reduce upfront costs and simplify the process of solar installation. Finally, all these programs should identify the social, political, and economic considerations of the area and factor these considerations into program design. All these actions will promote a successful solar program. A one page document that outlines the actions along with links to relevant websites is available in Annex A. INTRODUCTION Citizens and local governments have an important role to play in the adoption of solar energy. Local governments can promote solar through setting renewable energy goals, simplifying solar permitting, providing solar outreach to the community to educate citizens about solar energy, and organizing collaborative purchasing programs for wide scale solar installation. A study done by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in 2010 found that “Local governments can play an important role in developing an environment conducive to clean energy adoption... and can craft policies aimed at the unique needs of an area” [1]. Local solar policies allow for greater variability in programs that target the specific need of the community. Local policies can also be used to lead social change and frame the issue to get citizens motivated in solar adoption [1]. Scope and Methodology A strong focus has been placed on options that can be implemented by local city sustainability employees or city energy managers. More politically polarizing options have been omitted in the scope of this paper. This refers to any action that would require state or federal legislation or utility commission ruling to empower the city to act. Recommendations will revolve around options readily available in Arizona as of the writing of this paper. Because recent politics in Arizona have leaned toward conservative and free market initiatives, special focus will revolve around cost savings and market actions to promote solar in an effort to remove political bias from discussion regarding solar. Also, many renewable energy mandates have been set on utilities called renewable portfolio standards. This process is managed through the Arizona Corporation Commission, the regulatory agency that regulates electrical utilities in Arizona, and is outside the scope of this paper. A combination of document analysis and seven interviews with energy experts in the solar field will provide the research basis for this paper. A wide variety of experts were interviewed to provide different perspectives. These experts include a utility sustainability director, solar industry members, solar advocates, governmental employees, academic peers, and local citizens to achieve a breadth of perspectives. The purpose of these interviews was to ascertain the opinion of each member of the role local government to promote solar energy. Recommendations for sources and programs to consider in the scope of this paper was one of the main benefits from these interviews. Also, experience in setting up these programs and some of the social demographic considerations was inferred from these interviews. Benefits of Promoting Solar Installation of solar modules can reduce spending on electricity for local city operations and can promote local job creation. Depending on the financing option, solar energy can provide cheap electricity and set electricity rates for many years through solar service agreements (SSA). An SSA is a contract that a government or non-profit entity can enter with