Title
Resolution Authorizing a Commitment to Making the City of Ann Arbor a Solar Ready Community
Body
Whereas, In December 2012, the Ann Arbor City Council passed the Climate Action Plan (CAP)
, an ambitious multi-strategy vision to reduce our community-wide emissions 8% by 2015, 25% by 2025, and 90% by 2050, relative to year 2000 baseline emissions levels;
Whereas, 20% of the Climate Action Plan's 2025 electrical savings goal is slated to be met with solar photovoltaics (or equivalent) (i.e., 2.4 MW installed each year, for the next ten years for a total of 24 MW);
Whereas, The U.S. Department of Energy, SunShot and Rooftop Solar Challenge programs and other National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) studies have found that lack of solar-specific zoning and related building permitting within a community can actually dampen the local solar market by increasing the installed cost for solar systems for consumers;
Whereas, The City of Ann Arbor has hosted numerous SunShot-related educational programs in an effort to increase solar awareness and interest in the community; and,
Whereas, The Michigan Energy Office has funded the Clean Energy Coalition (CEC) to build upon the SunShot Initiative and to develop a Solar Ready Community Guide for Michigan, complete with model and streamlined zoning and permitting guidelines (see: Solar Ready Community, Executive Summary, Attachment I); and,
Whereas, The Solar Ready Community Guide project was successfully piloted in Mid-Michigan (Saginaw, Bay City and Midland) and subsequently successfully adopted by several other communities in the state; and,
Whereas, The Ann Arbor Energy Commission has determined that Ann Arbor has the potential of generating up to 78.5 MW of solar power annually; and,
Whereas, The Energy Commission finds that the Solar Ready designation would provide t...
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