Solar Energy Policy at MARC

A Presentation for the Missouri Municipal League 9.21.2015 - Sheraton Crown Center - KCMO

MARC Rooftop Solar Challenge Solar Ready KC and Solar Ready II Solar Best Management Practice Implementation Solar Ready Community Recognition Program Solar Mapping Lessons Learned

Presentation Outline

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Non-profit association of city and county governments

The metropolitan planning organization (MPO) for the bi-state Kansas City region

Serve 9 counties and 119 cities Population: 2.1 million Area: 4,423 square miles

Mid-America Regional Council (MARC)

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What is the Rooftop Solar Challenge?

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Part of U.S. DOE’s SunShot Initiative Goal: Develop best management practices for

reducing the non-hardware balance-of-system, or “soft costs” of solar photovoltaic systems

What is the Rooftop Solar Challenge?

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Rooftop Solar Challenge I awards were made in 2011 22 teams from across the country

Rooftop Solar I in KC: Solar Ready KC

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Started work in KC in 2012 Solar Ready KC Original Partners:

o Clay County, Mo. o Johnson County, Kan. o Kansas City, Mo. o Lee’s Summit, Mo. o Olathe, Kan. o Kansas City Power & Light

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Best Management

Practices

Process Improvements

Planning Improvements

Financing Options

MARC selected in July 2013 for Rooftop Solar Challenge II (1 of 8 teams)

Rooftop Solar II: A National Effort

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MARC’s approach from Rooftop Solar I was expanded to a national scale

Nine other regional planning councils came on-board Team now called “Solar Ready II” Solar Ready II is currently working with 275

jurisdictions that cover a population of over 22 million

Rooftop Solar II: A National Effort

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Nine other regional planning councils are: o Syracuse (Central NY Reg. Planning and Development Board) o Philadelphia (Delaware Valley RPC) o Phoenix (Maricopa Association of Governments) o DC (Metro Washington Council of Government) o Dallas/Ft. Worth (North Central TX Council of Government) o Portage, IN (Northwest Indiana RPC) o Cincinnati (OH/KY/IN Regional Council of Government) o Ft. Meyers (Southwest Florida RPC) o Tampa (Tampa Bay RPC)

Rooftop Solar II: A National Effort

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Each RPC charged with recruiting 10-30 local

governments to adopt solar-friendly best practices

Coordination

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The National Association of Regional Councils (NARC) is coordinating the nine regional campaigns

Meister Consultants Group (MCG) is helping with capacity building and training

MARC expanded the reach of Solar Ready KC by: o Working with additional local governments

o Went from working with 5 to 26 jurisdictions

o Launching new programs/projects

Solar Ready II in KC

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Best Management

Practices

Process Improvements

Planning Improvements

Financing Options

Add provisions to the zoning ordinance to clarify and regulate how solar is permitted

Provisions should address:

o Where solar is permitted o Rooftop v. ground-mounted installations o Allowable mounting: angled v. flush o Height limitations

Planning Improvement: Address Solar in the Zoning Ordinance

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Typical language in KC region: o Allowed in all zoning districts o Ground mounted v. roof mounted o Ground

o Setbacks o Yards allowed

o Roof o Allowed on principal and accessory structures o Limitations on angle from roof and/or height

Planning Improvement: Address Solar in the Zoning Ordinance

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What is solar-ready construction? o Building orientation to maximize solar

potential o Space to put conduit up to the roof o Roof pitch

Why encourage solar-ready construction? o Make it easier for residents to go solar o Saves thousands of dollars upfront

Planning Improvement: Develop Solar-Ready Guidelines

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Planning Improvement: Develop Solar Ready Guidelines

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Clarify up-front what the jurisdiction requires for submission along with the building permit form o Includes:

o Site plan o Electrical diagram o Structural worksheet

Saves city staff and solar installer time MARC → Working to get all partner jurisdictions

using the same checklist document

Process Improvement: Create a Permit Checklist

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Solar Ready Community Recognition

MARC program to recognize Solar Ready II jurisdictions for implementing: o Solar Best Management Practices (BMPs) o Other actions that promote solar

Levels of Recognition: o Bronze o Silver o Gold

Solar Ready Community Recognition

Communities recognized during first round:

o Gladstone, MO (Gold) o Raymore, MO (Gold) o Belton, MO (Silver) o Lee’s Summit, MO (Silver) o Liberty, MO (Silver)

Next deadline to apply: October 2015

All five jurisdictions addressed solar energy in their zoning ordinances

All five made solar-ready construction guidelines available on their websites

Belton, Lee’s Summit and Liberty also implemented solar permit checklists and linked to MARC’s solar mapping website

Gladstone and Raymore created solar landing pages Gladstone also recently put solar on a city facility Raymore also has fixed fees for residential solar

installations

Solar BMPs Implemented

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www.marc.org/solarguide FAQs How to get started Why go solar Cost of solar Incentives

Community Guide to Solar

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Solar Mapping—www.kcsolarmap.org

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Jurisdiction Recruitment o Phone and email inquiries to staff contacts o One-on-one meetings with staff

BMP Implementation o Zoning BMP: Provide examples from local peer

jurisdictions o BMP with examples not enough—providing templates

allows jurisdictions to implement with ease o A carrot helps! Recognition program helped spur BMP

implementation

Lessons Learned

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Solar Energy Coordinator, Mid-America Regional Council lmachala@marc.org | 816-701-8244

Laura Machala