permitting and soft costs
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Permitting and
Soft Costs Solar Focus 2014
Marta Tomic, Maryland Energy Administration
Elizabeth Youngblood, MassCEC
Matthew Mooney, E.ON
Brendan Reed, SolarCity
Moderator:
Efforts to Reduce Soft Costs in
Massachusetts
Elizabeth Youngblood Project Manager – Solar Programs
• Overview of MassCEC
• Snapshot of Clean Energy Economy in Massachusetts
• Efforts to reduce soft costs
1. SunShot Rooftop Solar Challenge
2. Solarize Mass Program
Outline
MassCEC Statutory Mandate
Advance Clean Energy Technology
Create Jobs
Develop a Trained Workforce
Accelerate Deployment of Clean Energy
Massachusetts Clean Energy Industry is Significant
Clean Energy Industry
$10 Billion Industry
2.5% of Gross State Product
88,372 jobs 2.4% of total Massachusetts workforce
5,985 firms 2.7% of total Massachusetts companies
Solar PV Industry
12,112 jobs in Solar PV industry 13% of Clean Energy jobs
1,415 Solar PV and Solar Thermal firms
Net Metering and SREC Program
687 MW Installed Capacity Over 17,000 solar PV projects
Rooftop Solar Challenge SunShot I • Permitting and structural review best practices • Community Shared Solar Guide SunShot II • Expansion of regional facilitation across 5 states • Residential Solar Loan Program • Trainings on technical, permitting, & structural
best practices • Model Solar Zoning Guide
Goals of Solarize Mass • Increase education
through community outreach
• Introduce model to simplify process
• Reduce time to contract
• Reduce installation costs
• Increase adoption
Equipment Costs
“Soft” Costs
Sales
Installation
State Average
Equipment Costs
“Soft” Costs
Installation
Solarize Mass
Drive down the cost stack
Program Results to Date
Year Communities Contracts
Signed Avg. Contracts
per Community Capacity
(kW) Avg. Capacity per Community (kW)
2011 4 communities 162 40 829 207
2012 17 communities (13 proposals)
803 47 5,146 302
2013 R1 10 communities (9 proposals)
551 55 3,838 383
2013 R2 15 communities (10 proposals)
932 62.1 6,142 409
Total 46 communities 2,428 15,955
• 2012: 20% cost savings, 2013 R1: 18% cost savings • See ~10% forfeiture rate in program (consistent w/ rebate market)
Solarize Mass Adoption 2011 - 2013
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
Nu
mb
er
of
Smal
l-Sc
al S
ola
r P
V S
yste
ms
Solarize Mass Communities
DuringSolarizeMass
Pre-SolarizeMass
• 38 of 46 communities doubled amount of solar in community
Thank you!
Elizabeth Youngblood
Project Manager – Solar Programs
eyoungblood@masscec.com
www.MassCEC.com
MassCEC Clean Energy Group
@MassCEC
MDV-SEIA Permitting & Soft Cost Panel
Presenter: Matthew Mooney, Solar Development Manager
Contact info: E.ON, 701 Brazos St., Suite 1400, Austin, TX 78735
Office: 512.482.4015
Permitting & Soft Cost Reduction Practices
Project Siting Practices
Avoid NEPA Triggers
Critical Issues Analysis
Real Estate Due Diligence
12
Permitting & Soft Cost Reduction Practices – Cont’ed
Procurement
In house is the best house
Public relations and public policy
13
Lessons Learned
Be selective when choosing a counterparty
Avoid ambiguity for big ticket items
Fast, Cheap & Good - Pick two!
14
Improving Residential Solar PI&I
Brendan Reed
Deputy Director, Policy & Electricity Markets
November 18, 2014
“They told me that it often takes 65 days to install solar panels on a person’s home, of which 64 of those days are spent wading through the local
bureaucracy.” – California Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi
• Proposal, sale, site survey, design: Days
• Permit, inspection, interconnection: Months
• East Coast particularly challenging with so many towns/municipalities
-Massachusetts: 296 towns, 55 cities
• Low hanging fruit – NREL studies attribute 64% of residential PV costs to “soft costs” with $0.19/W directly associated with PI&I
Turnaround Times and Savings Potential
• Different forms, fees and requirements
-Every town has their own permit form and inspection process
-Fees often calculated according to cost to build project
-Unique requirements: Long Island notarizations
• Process is antiquated
-Vast majority of municipalities require physical submittal
-Time is money
• Resources are limited with the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ)
-Rapid expansion of rooftop PV straining building departments
-Not unreasonable to cite lack of resources when AHJ goes from processing 10 permits a week to 100
Main Issues Behind the Bottlenecks
• State or region-wide permit form and fee creates certainty
-Allows AHJ’s to quickly approve projects with “checklist” features (under 10kW, single family home, etc.)
-Flatten fees: As projects become standardized so should cost
-One inspection per job
• Automate EVERYTHING
-Online processing portal similar to MEA COAP becomes one- stop shop for everything needing documentation
-Electronic signatures and stamps become the norm
• Best practices – AB 2188
-Law mandates towns pass an ordinance to streamline their permit process. Includes checklist, turnaround time mandate, electronic submittal requirement, etc.
Solutions: Standardization and Automation
Thank You
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