Submitted
The City of Carmel, with assistance from Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute and The Great Plains Institute, has been awarded a Silver designation from the national SolSmart program for making it faster, easier and more affordable for residences and businesses to go solar. This designation recognizes the city for taking steps to encourage growth and remove obstacles to solar installations.
As an example, for companies looking to install or expand solar energy growth, a “SolSmart Silver” designation is a signal that Carmel is open for solar business. Carmel is one of more than 400 municipalities and counties who have achieved a SolSmart designation since the program launched in 2016 and one of 108 Silver-designated cities.
Brainard
“We are honored to receive this Silver SolSmart designation and it validates our historical work of eliminating red tape, promoting energy independence while improving local air quality and reducing CO2 emissions,” Mayor Jim Brainard said. “Additionally, solar creates good paying jobs while also increasing Carmel residents’ property values. It’s a win-win all around for Carmel.”
As a Silver level SolSmart designee, Carmel is helping solar installers and residents reduce the barriers and costs of solar installations. This allows even more local homes and businesses to obtain affordable, clean and reliable electricity through solar. The actions Carmel has taken will help encourage solar companies to do business in the area, driving economic development and creating local jobs.
The City of Carmel received this designation for the following reasons, among others:
- Supported community education events and community-wide group purchasing programs organized by the Carmel Green Initiative
- Installation of two solar arrays of 3,000 panels or a 1.09 megawatt system at Carmel Utilities locations
- Created a centralized “Solar” webpage on the city’s website
- Created an online permitting checklist, increasing transparency for community members and solar installers
- Reviewed local zoning codes and identified restrictions that intentionally or unintentionally prohibit solar energy system development
- Allowed solar by-right as an accessory use in all zones (so solar installations don’t require special permits or hearings)
- Trained both inspection, permitting and planning staff on solar energy systems
The SolSmart program is led by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council and the International City/County Management Association and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office. The program uses objective criteria to award points to communities based on the actions they take to streamline solar energy development. Communities that take sufficient action are designated either gold, silver or bronze.
As part of the SolSmart program, a team of national experts provides no-cost technical assistance to help communities achieve designation. All municipalities, counties, and regional organizations are eligible to join the SolSmart program and receive this technical assistance. Additionally, the City of Carmel had assistance from an ERI, Climate Fellow. Interested communities can learn more at SolSmart.org.