April 2016
NYC Solar Roadmap Meetings and Survey  

Sustainable CUNY hosted industry stakeholder meetings and conducted surveys to gather input to update the NYC Solar Roadmap and prioritize action areas to reduce balance of system costs. More than 40 installers, architects, engineers and other industry professionals attended and provided feedback. CUNY's partners in the NYC Solar Partnership, including the NYC Mayor's Office of Sustainability, DCAS, and NYC DOB also provided briefings on the City's initiatives impacting solar.

Next Steps
 
The feedback provided by industry during the facilitated discussions has been summarized along with results from the pre-meeting survey. Summary Challenges and contributors to soft costs have been grouped into high-level categories. Smaller breakout groups will be formed to address the key challenges within each of these categories. The groups will regularly report back to the full Installer Roundtable. The first breakout groups to organize will address:
  1. Special Flood Hazard Zone Requirements
  2. Fire Code Flexibility and Variance Application Streamlining
  3. PTA Extension
  4. Grid Infrastructure and Transparency for Upgrades
NYC DOB Report to Stakeholder Meetings  

    

  • Inspection Ready has cut 3 days off the average inspection time line since December.
  • A new online permitting system will be implemented in the coming years, which will reduce the number of forms, introduce auto fill and data population to fields, and automatically calculate fees.
  • As part of the new permitting system, project types will be divided into 52 categories based on risk. Solar will have its own risk category and, as one of the lowest risk categories, will be one of the first implemented with the fewest forms.

    

  • A set of project guidelines will be produced for each risk categories, covering what will be reviewed by inspectors and plan examiners. The project guidelines for solar will be released for public comment.
  • A new Advocate has been placed at the hub with a focus on solar and teams of plan examiners working on specific technologies, such as solar, will be grouped together to promote consistency
  • Assistant chief plan examiners will provide a supervisor-level review to promote consistency
  • DOB has 105 budget lines to hire new plan examiners and roughly 20 budget lines for assistant chief plan examiners. The agency is only 20% through the hiring process.

Contact [email protected]
if you would like to be involved in the roadmap breakout meetings. 

Installer FAQ's                          NYC Ombudsmen Answers

Q: We are installing a battery bank as part of a commercial install.  We think we need to do an OTCR2 for the battery bank. Does that sound right? Who would be the "applicant" on the OTCR2?
A: CUNY's   Energy Storage Systems Permitting and Interconnection Process Guide covers the permitting process for batteries, including the OTCR 2 on pp 7. As per the guide, "the applicant can be anyone associated with the project, including the owner, PE/RA, and manufacturer, among others."


Q: We have 1 lot with 2 meters, each meter contains 5 buildings. Since we are applying for the PTA, does that mean we can get 10 times max of $62,500 on the same lot?

A: Each separate building on the same tax lot qualifies as an "eligible building," meaning that each building may take advantage of the solar property tax abatement . Thus, even if all 5 buildings are on the same lot, each building would be eligible for its own PTA with the maximum of $62,500 per year based on the eligible expenses associated with that building.

Solar Ombudsmen Case Study


CHALLENGE

FDNY pitched roof threshold of 20 degrees applied 6' clear paths to many buildings that did not need this operationally and limited project viability.

SOLUTION
Worked with FDNY to reduce threshold from 20 degrees to 9.5 degrees, following IFC best practices and allowing for more solar without compromising fire fighting. Fire Code Guide 
IMPACT

Estimated 5000 buildings now considered pitched and therefore subject to less stringent fire code set backs.  

In the Works 

INITIATIVE- Greater Fire Code Flexibility for Solar PV on flat-roof buildings 
STATUS- At the encouragement of the Solar Ombudsmen, FDNY is examining situations in which flexibility can be provided for the fire path width in certain instances without filing for a variance, as per FC 512.2.

INITIATIVE- Clarity and flexibility for Special Flood Hazard Areas
STATUS- Based on feedback at the NYC Solar Roadmap stakeholder meetings held in March, CUNY is convening representatives from different DOB departments to address the requirements for Special Flood Hazard Areas.
New Resources

PRO CERT FAQ
Pro Cert launched for certain solar projects on January 1, and DOB has already seen a tremendous uptick in applications.  Sustainable CUNY has prepared an FAQ to help prepare installers to file solar PTA applications through self- cert without problems or delay. Many of the questions in this resource are based on questions installers posed to CUNY's solar ombudsmen and was updated in March of 2016.  Pro Cert FAQ 

Solar+Storage Workshop Presentations 
More than 100 installers and industry professionals attended the NYC Solar Installer Workshop covering solar+storage held on March 7th. Presentations have been posted to the Sustainable CUNY website from NYC DOB, Con Edison, FDNY, and Cadmus Group. The workshop was hosted by Con Edison and supported by the Department of Energy's Rooftop Solar Challenge II and NYSERDA.

2016 NY Solar Summit
 
Sponsorships are now available for Sustainable CUNY's 10th annual NY Solar Summit. The Summit will highlight the importance of resiliency and explore how the NYS Public Service Commission's 'Reforming the Energy Vision' will transform utility companies. In addition, the Summit will feature the NYC Solar Partnership and the largest mayoral commitment to solar in the United States as well as the Governor's NY-Sun programs that include solar opportunities for all New Yorkers. The Summit will detail the tools that help give all New Yorkers a pathway to solar including the CUNY built NY Solar Map and Portal and its comprehensive NYSolar Smart program; the DG Hub-Resilient Solar Project, and the NYC Grid Ready project in partnership with Con Edison. Registration opens April 22nd. 
Installer Perspective  

What would provide the greatest benefit to your business?

A.      Online fire code variance filing
B.      Flexibility on clear path obstructions for skinny buildings
C.      Ability to file pro cert if a fire variance is approved first
NYC Solar Snapshots




The NYC Solar Installer Roundtable
 
NYC Solar Installer Roundtable is a forum for exchanging information, workshop opportunities, RFP/ RFI notices, and industry updates. Join the NYC Solar Roundtable, the NYS Solar Installer Roundtable or the Smart DG Hub Roundtable by sending an email to [email protected]  
Calendar of Events

April 2016
May 2016 
June 2016 
Catching the Sun
Documentary
PVTN Training 
Solar PV for Engineers & Architects 
NY Solar Summit
10th Annual   
 
Submit an event to: [email protected] 
NYSolar Smart is a strategic effort led by Sustainable CUNY of the City University of New York that supports Federal, State and NYC solar initiatives to strategically remove barriers to large scale solar deployment.