U.S. Energy Department Publishes Guidebook to Encourage Solar Energy Deployment

The U.S. Department of Energy on Jan. 19 published the third edition of “Solar Power in Your Community,” a guidebook to assist local governments gain ecological and economic advantage of expanded solar energy infrastructure. This guidebook includes about forty case studies showcasing field-tested methods to overcome the solar marketplace barriers and discusses new technologies and approaches to make the most of solar energy.

The publication intends to advance the solar energy footprint and move closer to achieve the Biden administration’s goal of 100 percent clean electricity by 2035 and a net-zero economy by 2050. To this end, the guidebook presents the best approach, dossiers, and other resources created by the department, the national laboratories, and other trustworthy sources regarding solar deployment.

Solar energy costs have reduced 80 percent and government-backed incentives have also increased significantly for the solar advancements since the guidebook was originally published in 2009. However, associated costs like extra paperwork, bureaucracy, and other redundant processes increase costs and demoralize solar companies. Therefore, the agency is helping and encouraging solar companies by restructuring and streamlining the overall process. The agency is committed to lessen licensing and permitting bottlenecks and other costs to scale up the benefits for companies to renters and thrive in generating cheap and clean power while creating new attractive local jobs.

The agency’s guidebook motivates local bodies to adopt SolarAPP+ tool to speedily approve residential solar installation licenses and to join the SolSmart 60 campaign to increase solar deployment. It also offers free technical support to advance community solar plans. To further increase the awareness about resources, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm will keynote the Annual Summit of the National Community Solar Partnership on Jan. 25 and talk about solar deployment.