Roughly one year after the SolSmart program launched, 58 communities in 25 states have achieved designation as “open for solar business.” The program continues to provide no-cost technical assistance to designated communities and is well on its way to the goal of having a few hundred designees over the course of the three-year program.
During the American Planning Association’s national conference, SolSmart announced the latest 22 designations.
SolSmart Gold:
- Atlanta
- Beaverton, Ore.
- Davis, Calif.
- El Paso, Texas
- Hillsboro, Ore.
- Huntington Beach, Calif.
- Madison, Wis.
- Washington, D.C.
- Ypsilanti, Mich.
SolSmart Silver:
- Ames, Iowa
- Oro Valley, Ariz.
SolSmart Bronze:
- Carrboro, N.C.
- Chapel Hill, N.C.
- Charlottesville, Va.
- Cupertino, Calif.
- Dartmouth, Mass.
- Lincoln, Neb.
- Miami-Dade County, Fla.
- Natick, Mass.
- Orange County, N.C.
- Raymore, Mo.
- San Antonio
In addition, four communities that had previously been designated as silver or bronze were “promoted” to SolSmart Gold:
- Charleston County, S.C.
- Philadelphia
- St. Paul, Minn.
- Somerville, Mass.
SolSmart is a national community recognition and designation program that supports the goals of DOE’s SunShot
Initiative—to make it faster, cheaper, and easier to go solar. Towns and cities that pursue the SolSmart designation can get free technical assistance to help make the approval processes more efficient and decrease the burden on overworked local governments. These efficiencies are aimed at saving communities money, which DOE hopes will spur even more interest in utilizing solar energy.
As a SolSmart team member, Home Innovation Research Labs supports the program’s designation component, led by the International City/County Management Association. Visit SolSmart.org to learn more about the program and the benefits it can provide.
