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Share Your Solar Project Experience

<< Back to Local Government Solar Project Portal

Sharing your solar PV project experience is simple; taking advantage of other's experience is even easier!

By sharing your solar project development experiences your municipality can lead by example and receive recognition for your achievements. To take full advantage of the resources and peer exchange opportunities offered through this Portal, it starts by providing EPA evidence that your municipality has a publicly available renewable energy goal or commitment.

Municipalities that share their experiences will receive important updates on new resources, webinar events, peer exchange opportunities and upcoming regional/state workshops. Solar projects featured and recognized through this Portal are intended to serve municipal operations, however, there are no minimum requirements in terms of your project size. EPA will share and highlight local government successes through the end of 2019 – so get started and be recognized today!

What is the first step to being listed on the Portal?

Having your municipality added to the Portal Project List is easy. Simply email evidence of your municipality’s publicly available renewable energy goal or commitment to EPA at EPASolarPortal@erg.com (contractor email in support of EPA). By setting and making public your municipality’s goal or commitment you will be better positioned to achieve your goals and help to institutionalize your municipality’s efforts.

Examples of publicly available goals and commitments can include:

  • A link to a webpage that clearly articulates your municipality’s renewable energy commitment or goal;
  • A link or a document detailing a resolution passed by your city council or similar body;
  • A link or document describing a local government ordinance that is binding on the municipal operations of your local government;
  • Public participation in renewable electricity commitment programs, such as ICLEI 100% RE Cities & Regions Network Exit or NYSERDA's Model Solar Resolution (PDF) (3 pp, 48K) Exit or other equivalent;
  • If your local government has already embarked along the project development pathway and can demonstrate your progress, you may submit evidence of this information for consideration.

When emailing EPA evidence of your renewable energy goal, commitment or progress, be sure to include the following information in your email:

  • Local government primary contact information (e.g., name, phone, email, mailing address)
  • A link to or a document detailing your publicly available solar or renewable energy commitment or goal (e.g., web URL link)

Links and documentation submitted by municipalities will be shared on EPA’s Portal and will serve as examples for other municipalities to follow.

What happens after my municipality is listed on the Portal?

Municipalities agree to work towards developing solar projects that serve their municipal operations and share their progress through the solar project development process. Individual municipality progress will be tracked on the Portal Project List. Municipalities demonstrate progress by sharing their achievements across a series of 7 different steps along a solar project development pathway. The Project Development Pathway involves the following steps:

  1. Share your municipality’s solar or renewable energy commitment or goal
  2. Develop and share your solar project development plan (optional)
  3. Show evidence of having assessed your solar site opportunities, cataloged your solar site information and collected your site utility data
  4. Develop and issue a solar project Request for Proposals (RFP)
  5. Review and evaluate your solar project proposals
  6. Select a project developer and enter into a contract
  7. Build and commission your project

Municipalities can use the Guidance for Submitting Solar Project Progress Spreadsheet (XLSX)(1 pg, 19 K) to share their solar project development progress with EPA. This form includes illustrative examples for how your municipality can share its achievements for each step along the pathway.

How will my municipality benefit from sharing our solar project development achievements?

Municipalities can benefit in several key ways:

  • By sharing your progress, you can be recognized as a leader in solar project development
  • Through the Portal you can learn from others who have successfully achieved certain steps of the solar project development pathway
  • Listed municipalities can receive updates on new resources and peer exchange opportunities, trainings and webinars, as well as notifications on upcoming regional/state workshops

Listed local governments can update and share their self-paced progress along the project development pathway.

How do I update EPA with my solar project development achievements and progress?

As your local government works its way along the steps of the project development pathway, we encourage you to update your progress so you can be recognized for your leadership. Municipalities can use the simple Guidance for Submitting Solar Project Development Progress Spreadsheet (XLSX) (1 pg, 24 K) to share their solar project development progress. This form provides examples for how your municipality can share its achievements for each pathway step. Additional resources and technical support guidance for achieving different project development steps can be found on the Solar Project Development Pathway & Resources web page.

What happens after my municipality develops a solar project(s)?

Municipalities that successfully use green power from their newly developed solar projects may be eligible to join EPA's Green Power Partnership. EPA's Green Power Partnership (GPP) is a free, voluntary program, that recognizes the use of green power among organizations in the United States to reduce the environmental impacts associated with conventional electricity use. Municipalities must demonstrate their use of green power through owning renewable energy certificates that all renewable energy projects generate. Join today!

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