Solar Working Group

Solar Working Group

MINUTES

May 1July 9, 2008

10 10AM – 12PM

DEP Rachel Carson Building, Harrisburg

Room 1052nd Floor Training Room

Solar Working Group Members Present:

§  Lance Simmens (Office of the Governor)

Others Present:

§  Dan Griffiths (PADEP/OETD)

§  Mark Hand (PADEP/OETD)

§  Tom Tuffey (PennFuture)
Roger Clark (The Reinvestment Fund)

§  Jeffrey Heishman (PA State Association of Boroughs)

§  Maureen Mulligan (Communications Consulting)

§  Jeanne Dworetzky (PADEP/PEDA)

§  Susan LeGros (Stevens & Lee)

§  Ron Celentano (Celentano Energy Services/ MSEIA)

§  Mark Connolly (SunPower Builders)

§  Amy Sturges (Pennsylvania State Association of Township Commissioners)

§  Carmen LaRosa (PADEP/OETD)

§  Libby Dodson (PADEP/OETD)

§  Becky Campbell (PADEP/PEDA)

§  Robb Jetty (UPC Solar)

§  John Quigley (DCNR-Office of the Secretary)

§  Lisa Warren (Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors)

§  Denise Brinley (PADEP,Office of Community Revitalization and Local Government Support)

Via phone:

§  Mark Storch (Plextronics)

§  Timothy McElvaine (AE Polysilicon)

Other Attendees Present:

§  Colin Hollinger (Sun Lion Energy Systems)

§  Joe Leighton (PASolar)

§  Karl Lasher (PADEP/OETD)

Welcome and Opening/Introductions:

Lance SimmensDan Griffiths welcomed all attendees and reminded the group that the purpose of these meetings is to unify the solar industry with local and state governments. The group is likely to quickly grow over the next several months. Ideally, PA will become a leader in effectively linking local government requirements with the development of solar projects..

Administrative Matters:

Dan Griffiths suggested October 2, 2008 as a tentative meeting date. Becky Campbell will check for room availability.

Roger Clark would like to allow extra time for meetings if necessary. PADEP agreed to reserve rooms until at least 1PM to allow for extra meeting time if needed.

Jeanne Dworetzky gave a brief overview of Special Session House Bill 1 updates. Under the Bill, $100 million will be available for solar projects for consumers and small for-profit businesses with fewer than 100 employees. This program will be administered within PADEP. Also, $80 million will be available for larger scale solar projects. The Commonwealth Finance Committee in DCED will administer these awards. Applicant eligibility for this funding has been very broadly defined which will permit a lot of flexibility in determining program requirements. PADEP will also be administering an energy efficiency program funded through this Bill. This program will be pay-as-you-go. Applications for these programs will not be available for at least several months. Greg Skotnicki clarified that these awards will be federally taxable, but further clarification with the Department of Revenue will be necessary to determine taxability at the state level.

Minutes were reviewed. One amendment was necessary to specify that Dan Griffiths will check with PA Downtown Center on taxes, not Maureen Mulligan.

Presentations:

Mark Connolly gave a brief presentation of the base camp tool. The tool will be available for Solar Working Group members. Mark demonstrated how members could log into the site and navigate through different processes. All Working Group Members will be registered prior to the next meeting and provided with a user name and password through email notification.

Lance Simmens and Elam Herr provided a discussion of the development of the model wind ordinance. The model wind ordinance was created to address large wind turbines, but not residential-scale projects. Even though wind projects tend to face significant public outcry, the model ordinance seemed to be fairly successful. The gentlemen do not anticipate the same type of environmental opposition while working with solar projects. A model solar ordinance will be necessary to address both large and small-scale projects. Elam suggested including someone to represent building code concerns in the solar working group. Working group members from the solar industry indicated that structural integrity is rarely an issue with solar installations. Elam still strongly suggests addressing the issue so as to avoid any public misperceptions. Representatives from the solar industry agreed to prepare a list of possible structural issues with solar projects.

In the future:

§  Labor and Industry will participate in meetings (contact Sandi Vito).

§  Representatives from the utilities will be invited to participate.

§  The group will seek to avoid acronyms in describing technological terms to ensure that all participants can easily follow the discussion.

A private, web-based collaborative space has been developed for the working group participants. Working group members will receive an automatic invitation to join the space, and Mark Hand will also send a second email. Sample ordinances will be posted on the space for review instead of printing as handouts. Meeting announcements and scheduling will continue to be communicated by e-mail.

Discussions:

Dan Griffiths lead a discussion on solar issues to consider as the group prepares a model wind ordinance. Using the model wind ordinance

issues document as a reference, the group brainstormed topics on a white board. The complete list of model solar ordinance issues is attached.

Lance Simmens closed the meeting by suggesting that the group move forward and make August a “working” meeting. Lance will become Chair of the Solar Working Group. Tom Tuffey will be Co-Chair of the group. Lance and Tom will try to prepare a strawman for the August meeting. The group will use the strawman as a starting point for the August 7 meeting.

The group seeks to develop standard ordinances that local governments can easily adopt rather than having to develop their own. In working toward this, the group will identify problems and needs of local governments and obstacles encountered by solar developers and installers. The group will use the model wind ordinance as an example of tackling these issues.

Solar projects should be divided into three categories:

§  Residential

§  Commercial

§  Utility-scale (>3MW)

The group needs to involve the Department of Revenue to discuss tax protocols.

Upcoming Meetings:

August 7, 2008 10AM-12PM: 2nd floor auditorium, Rachel Carson Building

September 4, 2008 10AM-12PM: 2nd floor auditorium, Rachel Carson Building

October 2, 2008 10AM-12PM: Room 105, Rachel Carson Building

§  June 5, 2008 (starting early at 9:30 am)

o  Industry presentation on solar technology

o  PADEP presentation on wind model ordinance and how tax issues were solved

o  Maureen Mulligan presentation on the barriers that exist for solar developers and installers trying to implement solar projects.

o  Local government presentation on how PA local governments have already dealt with solar ordinance issues.

§  July 9, 2008

§  August 7, 2008

§  September 4, 2008

Action Items:

§  PADEP/OETD will attend the workforce development meetings at Labor and Industry the week of May 5 – 10.

§  PADEP will rearrange the task list in order of priorities.

§  Educational materials on local ordinances and requirements for solar installers will be added to the list of products.

§  Financing will be added as item VI on the PA Solar Deployment Program and Issues document.

§  PADEP will email the model wind ordinance to the group prior to the next meeting (also available on PADEP website: http://www.depweb.state.pa.us/energy/cwp/view.asp?a=3&Q=482723&energyNav=|)

§  Dan Griffiths will contact electric utilities to see if any have an interest in participating.

§  Lance and Tom Tuffey will prepare a model solar ordinance strawman for the August 7, 2008 meeting.

§  PADEP will invite the Department of Revenue to join the working group.

Presentation

Dan Griffiths made a presentation on energy reliability rules and demonstrated how renewable energy sources affect the market.