9/8/2016 #IowaLeague2016 How Cities are Capitalizing on Solar - PDF document

9/8/2016 #IowaLeague2016 How Cities are Capitalizing on Solar Markets Cooper Martin, Program Director, Sustainable Cities Institute, National League of Cities Nick Kasza, Senior Associate, National League of Cities Handouts and presentations are available through the event app and at www.iowaleague.org. www.sustainablecitiesinstitute.org Transportation Equity & Materials Food Systems Engagement Management Climate Adaptation Land Use & Water & Green Buildings & Energy Planning Infrastructure 1

9/8/2016 How Cities are Capitalizing on Solar Markets SolSmart Cooper Martin Program Director Sustainable Cities Institute National League of Cities Nick Kasza Senior Associate Sustainable Cities Institute National League of Cities Iowa Solar Energy at a Glance IN 2015 • 6 MW installed • $16 million invested CUMUL MULATIVE • 29 MW installed • Enough to power 3,000 homes • Ranks 29 th in the country OVER THE NEXT 5 YEAR ARS • Expected to install 170 MW • More than 7 times the amount installed in the last 5 years SolSmart Funding SUNSHOT AND SOLSMAR ART SolSmart was funded by SunShot in October 2015 with the goal of providing technical assistance to enough US communities to designate at least 300 of them as a SolSmart Community by October 2018. ABOU OUT SUNSHOT MISSION To make solar energy cost-competitive with traditional energy sources before the end of the decade. GOAL OALS The SunShot Initiative aims to reduce the total installed cost of solar energy systems to $0.06 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) by 2020. Today, SunShot is about 70% of its way toward achieving the program's goal, halfway into the program's ten- year timeline. 2

9/8/2016 SolSmart Program Structure SolSmart rt Prog ogram TA Delivery ry Designation Program Expert rtise TA Pipeline Solar r Outreach Experi rience SolSmart Overview DESIGNATION • Communities complete a SolSmart Designation Scorecard which assesses how solar-friendly local policies and processes are. • SolSmart designation team awards communities SolSmart Bronze, Silver, or Gold based on scorecard points and documentation. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE • Communities that do not meet designation criteria are eligible to receive technical assistance. • Designated communities that wish to pursue a higher tier of designation can receive no-cost technical assistance, but at a lower level of program priority than non-designees. • All SolSmart TA is program-funded Designation Program • Tiered ed designati tion prog rogram with different levels of achievement: SolSmart Bronze, Silver, and Gold. • On Ongoing co compet etiti tions to reward success in real-time. • Annual awards recognizing outstanding achievement in soft cost, market growth, community engagement, other categories. 3

9/8/2016 SolSmart Designation Structure  Earn SolSmart Bronze  Address Gold prerequisites  Address Bronze prerequisites  Solar statement  Address Silver prerequisites  PV permitting turnaround for  Solar by-right in all major  Permitting checklist small systems ≤ 3 days  Zoning barrier review zones  Earn 200 total points from actions  Cross-train inspection and  Earn 20 points in the Permitting taken across any combination of permitting staff category categories  Earn 100 total points from actions  Earn 20 points in the Planning, Zoning, & Development taken across any combination of SPECIAL AWARDS : categories Regulations category  Earn 20 total points across Communities that at earn rn 60%+ + of the points in a given cat ategory ry are “Special Focus” categories eligible for special recognition. Survey Responses B a Environmental Impact r r Reliability concerns i e Lack of HOA support r s Historic Preservation Other t o Lack of utility support S Lack of policy support o Lack of education l a High upfront cost r 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 The Cost of Solar in the US Change in Soft Costs and Hardware Costs Over Time $7.00 No change in soft $3.32 costs between $6.00 2010 and 2012 Soft costs remain $3.32 nearly 2/3s of $5.00 installed cost $/watt $4.00 $3.28 Soft Costs $3.00 Hardware Costs $2.00 $1.90 $1.00 $- 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 4

9/8/2016 The Cost of Solar Cost Breakdown US Average Installed Cost for Residential PV $14 $12 $10 43% drop in price $8 2010 - 2015 $6 $4 Soft Costs System Hardware $2 Currently soft costs can account for up $- to 64 percent of the total system price . 1998 2015 (H1) Avg. for 2015: $3.50/W (SEIA) Soft Cost Takeaways 1. They often comprise a larger share of total installed cost than hardware. 2. They slow solar market growth and artificially shrink the number of places in the US where solar is financially viable. 3. Local governments have a big role to play in reducing barriers. Benefits of Reducing Soft Costs Streamlined processes can deliver a time and nd cost savings for or loc ocal gov overnm nment sta taff. Increased and readily available access to information about technical and procedural requirements can reduce staff time and costs due to fewer requests for information, questions from installers, and incomplete permit applications, all of which can be a drain on limited local resources. Reduced Installation Costs = Increased d Retu turn rn on Inv nvestm tment t for System Owners Permitting processes alone can impose significant cost increases. For a typical 5- kW residential PV installation, one nerou ous perm rmitti ting ng pro rocedur ures can add dd $700 to the price of an installation. When considering permitting along with other local regulatory processes, the total price impa pact t can n be up to $2,500 for a typical system. Source: LBNL, IREC 5

9/8/2016 Benefits of Reducing Soft Costs Reducing red-tape for solar can result in impr proved d bus usine ness pro rospects ts for or solar r com ompanies. More than 1 in 3 installers avoid serving communities because of associated permitting difficulties. Opening your community for solar business can have pos ositi tive impa pacts ts on jobs obs and nd econo nomic developm pment. For each megawatt of installed capacity (approximately 200 average-sized residential systems): 29.4 construction jobs are created for residential solar 15.8 construction jobs are created for non-residential solar Sources: Clean Power Finance (Spruce); The Solar Foundation SolSmart Benefits • Recognition on SolSmart website (map/leaderboards/city profiles) • SolSmart designation logo for community website • Press opportunities (events/press releases) • Plaques (modules for first 35) • Awards for outstanding achievement • No-cost technical assistance SolSmart Technical Assistanc e 6

9/8/2016 SolSmart TA Providers • Decade des of combined experience in solar energy, along with thou ousands ds of hour ours of previo vious us TA provis ovision on to jurisdictions including city, county, and state governments. • Previous experience working on DOE-funded programs, including: • Solar Outreach Partnership (SolarOps) • Rooftop Solar Challenge II • Solar Market Pathways • Solar America Cities • STAT (Solar Technical Assistance Team) • Broad knowledge regarding solar issues affecting communities, as well as niche expertise to ensure the ability to respond to all scenarios. No-Cost Technical Assistance • All communities pursuing SolSmart designation are eligible ble for r no-cost t techn hnical assistance from national solar experts. • On average, a community can expect 100 hour ours of technical assistance. • Technical assistance is designed to help a com ommunit nity achie hieve the he re requ quirements ts for or designa nati tion. n. • TA is also available to help designated communities achieve higher levels of designation. No-Cost Technical Assistance TA is linked to the eight SolSmart criteria areas and their associated actions: Criteria Areas Foundational Categories Fo Special Fo Focus Categori ries Permitting Solar Rights Planning, Zoning, and Development Regulations Inspection Construction Codes Community Engagement Utility Engagement Market Development & Finance Innovative Actions 7