A One-Stop Solar Toolkit for Local Governments

What are the first steps for developing a solar project on a brownfield? How can local governments increase the deployment of battery storage? What are the important federal policies that affect solar energy development? How can your community incorporate solar into planning, permitting, and zoning?

Today, more and more local governments are interested in expanding the use of solar and other clean energy options. For many, however, it’s difficult to know where to start. To address this need, SolSmart has now published an online document that’s a comprehensive introduction for communities seeking to go solar: Solar Energy: SolSmart’s Toolkit for Local Governments.

 The Toolkit for Local Governments is a supplement to the one-on-one, no-cost technical assistance that SolSmart provides to municipalities and counties across the nation. It’s a way for local officials to browse topics of interest and learn about solar energy at their own pace, then follow up later with our technical assistance team on specific goals and strategies. To our knowledge, it’s the most thorough and up-to-date solar energy guide that local governments can find anywhere.

The toolkit includes chapters on several topics that are of broad interest to any county or municipality seeking to go solar, such as:

• The key federal and state policies that any local official should keep in mind
• Guidelines for encouraging solar energy through planning, zoning, and development and codes, permitting, and inspection
• How solar energy impacts local utilities and the electricity grid
• Local financing strategies and how to encourage solar in low-to-moderate income communities
• Solar development on public facilities and under-utilized land
• Building local resilience using solar and battery storage

Browse the full table of contents to explore other topics in the toolkit. When you’re ready to follow up, contact us or request a consultation to find out how our technical assistance team can help your community put these ideas into practice. You can also browse SolSmart’s library of additional resources, including detailed issue briefs and webinar recordings on solar and renewable energy for local governments.