NYSolar Smart Newsletter

August

2017

Stay Connected

CUNY Solar Resources

Find a complete list on the
NY Solar Portal

New York State Model Solar Energy Law

DG Hub Solar+Storage Permitting Guide

NYC Solar Permitting

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Additional Resources

Residential/Small Commercial MW Dashboards

Commercial/ Industrial MW Dashboards

Need a pathway to storage for your NY Town, Village or City?

Email [email protected]

EDUCATING NY'S OFFICIALS =
SOLAR GROWTH

NY-SUN PVTN a Resounding Success!

The PV Trainers Network (PVTN) was built on CUNY's initial partnership with 16 NYS municipalities, supported by the Department of Energy, to remove local barriers to solar. With solar now a proven engine for economic growth, the goal was to broaden this support to other municipalities through the NY-SUN PVTN Program. Beginning in the Summer of 2014 PVTN aimed to educate local governments and jurisdictions about the benefits of solar, identify opportunities, mitigate barriers and provide technical assistance. The interest in the program has been high throughout the state. A team of experts that includes Sustainable CUNY, Meister Consultants Group, Entech Engineering and the Land Use Law Center at Pace Law School has trained more than 11,500 local officials and stakeholders in 62 counties through 335 in-person training sessions and 15 webinars. In addition, PVTN responded to 130 requests for technical assistance from municipalities throughout New York State. Since the inception of the program, solar has nearly doubled in New York State to more than 873 MW of installed capacity, with another 1,200 MW of projects in the pipeline.

TRY THE NYC GRID READY TOOL

There are more than one million buildings in the five boroughs of New York City, but

determining how many of these rooftops are candidates for large scale solar systems

and how it would affect the grid is a challenge. The NYC Grid Ready Solar project provides information on potential grid constraints for large solar installations. CUNY, working with Consolidated Edison, analyzed the solar potential and technical risk factors for grid interconnection for all NYC buildings capable of hosting PV systems greater than 200 kW-AC. A new layer on the NY Solar Map shows whether buildings may or may not face interconnection issues , as well as a guide to the order of magnitude of costs for typical mitigation strategies. Go to nysolarmap.com , enter a NYC address or select a building that you believe might have the potential for 200kw of solar and select "Advanced Tools".

The NYC Grid Ready Solar project is supported by the NY-Sun Initiative and led by Sustainable CUNY in collaboration with Consolidated Edison, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).

MAKE YOUR COMMUNITY SOLSMART!

Do you know a municipality in New York State that could use some help in reducing the soft costs of going solar? Sustainable CUNY's NY Solar Ombudsmen are now also New York State SolSmart Technical Providers, a new national designation program funded by the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative. The program is designed to provide technical support as well as recognize communities that have taken key steps to address local barriers to solar energy. Communities can apply to receive technical assistance in a six month intensive program and work on a point system to qualify for a Bronze, Silver or Gold SolSmart designation by removing the identified solar market barriers. Sustainable CUNY established a strategic platform that included NY Solar Ombudsmen over a decade ago, and led the work through the NYC Solar Partnership (CUNY, Mayor's Office, NYC EDC) to streamline the solar installation process in NYC. As a result, NYC immediately received a Gold designation and has the most points of any City in the country, with Sustainable CUNY's platform now being used to help other urban environments. The New York metro area now ranks fifth in the nation for the number of solar jobs, with 10,815 jobs in the metropolitan statistical area.

Contact [email protected]
for more information on SolSmart.

SHARED SOLAR RFP ISSUED

RenewableNY, a non-profit partnership serving 15 counties in the Mid-Hudson and Southern Tier regions, issued an RFP on August 22 for a Community Shared Solar Solarize campaign. The organization is seeking projects that are in the advanced stages of development in its service regions, and offers favorable economics for subscribers, including low-to-moderate income households, businesses and non-profits. Proposals are due September 6. The complete RFP can be found here.

SOLAR PILOT TOOLKIT RELEASED

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) released a Solar PILOT Toolkit to assist the state's municipalities in understanding and negotiating "payment-in-lieu-of taxes" (PILOT) agreements for solar projects. Developed in collaboration with communities, local government officials, tax assessors, solar industry representatives, and others this Toolkit includes:

Model Solar PILOT Law
Model Solar PILOT Agreement
Solar PILOT Calculator (for taxing jurisdictions)

The Toolkit can be found on the NYSERDA website at nyseda.ny.gov/solarguidebook .

NEW YORK SOLAR ANALYTICS

NYSolar Smart Partner Jurisdiction

White Plains Solar Snapshot

FROM THE DIRECTOR

Harvey, Sandy, Katrina: these devastating Hurricanes and Superstorms are forever impactful on people's lives and their livelihoods. The aftermath of the Texas hurricane is a reminder that cannot, should not, be ignored when it comes to the importance of resiliency. As the solar market is developed across New York, we want to encourage everyone to consider a resilient system with a black start inverter and batteries. CUNY's Smart DG Hub, in collaboration with industry and government decision makers, is working hard to make the process clear (and replicable for other states). Many resources are available now on the nysolarmap.com, with more to come or reach out to us at [email protected].

Tria Case, University Director of Sustainability and Energy Conservation, City University of New York, Lead of NYC Solar Partnership

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.