Minnesota communities in Hennepin County recently worked to lower energy costs and deploy cleaner, more resilient energy options by streamlining solar zoning and permitting processes. As a result of their work, they achieved Silver designation from the SolSmart program, which provided free technical assistance and recognition to communities on their path to supporting local solar projects (SolSmart is part of the broader Energy Ready program suite).
In partnership with the Metropolitan Council and Hennepin County staff, GPI ran a SolSmart cohort over six months to help Hennepin County and the cities of Richfield, Robbinsdale, and Brooklyn Park earn their designations.
When discussing why the SolSmart designation is meaningful to the community, Rachel Lindholm, the City of Richfield’s sustainability coordinator, shared:
“Richfield is excited to encourage and facilitate easier solar installation for residents, businesses, organizations, and all community members. Helping reduce utility costs and increase energy resilience are two important goals for the city in relation to our sustainability efforts.”
Here are some key highlights of the SolSmart designation experience for cohort members:
- The cohort model enabled the communities to learn from one another, identifying common barriers and opportunities.
- The program helped them make progress on local solar options to benefit city residents.
- Technical assistance and the cohort model reduced barriers to taking action on solar at the local level.
SolSmart program reduced barriers to local solar energy projects
“The SolSmart program provides valuable technical assistance and resources that enable our city to tackle advanced solar energy projects that we might not typically be able to pursue due to limited staff and financial capacity,” said Kayla Kirtz, sustainability coordinator for the City of Robbinsdale.
Given the often-limited staff capacity and budgets of local governments, programs like SolSmart help them identify how to support clean energy options that can deliver major benefits for their residents and businesses.
Kirtz also shared that “the hands-on, tailored technical assistance was incredibly helpful and made the whole process easier to complete.” Both Kirtz and Lindholm highlighted the value of having a cohort model and how it provided accountability, enabling their cities to move forward with the program.
Through SolSmart, GPI has worked with many communities to prepare for solar energy projects that bring economic, environmental, and public health benefits to their residents.
Communities led by example to advance solar energy options
SolSmart designation includes four levels: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum (Platinum being the highest). SolSmart Silver designation recognizes the key actions that Hennepin County and the cities of Richfield, Robbinsdale, and Brooklyn Park (located in the county) have taken to increase solar deployment.
Their efforts included the following:
- Posting a permitting checklist
- Reviewing zoning codes to identify and address barriers to solar development
- Training planning staff and building officials on SolSmart best practices
- Creating a solar landing page on their website with tools and resources to support local solar development
- Installing solar on municipal buildings
- Adopting automated permitting platforms
The Silver designation provides meaningful recognition of locally driven efforts to expand clean energy. As Lindholm said, “The Robbinsdale community is embracing solar energy, so this designation demonstrates to our residents and businesses that we are embracing solar alongside them.” Since the cohort concluded, Robbinsdale continued its efforts and earned a Gold designation!
Looking ahead
Since its launch in 2016, the SolSmart program has enabled 500+ municipalities across the nation to streamline solar permitting processes, increasing opportunities for energy independence and economic development.
While the SolSmart program is not currently offering technical assistance to additional local governments, GPI, along with the IREC (Interstate Renewable Energy Council), ICMA (International City/County Management Association), and World Resources Institute, is exploring possibilities to continue supporting communities through the Energy Ready program.
Contact GPI for more information at [email protected].
