Virtual Resource Room Navigation
Grid and Distributed Generation
State and Local Regulation
Local Government Ordinances
Monroe County Model Solar Ordinance
Cumberland County Planning Department, Solar Energy Systems Model Ordinance
Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC), Renewable Energy Ordinance Framework, Solar PV
York County Planning Commission, Solar Energy Systems Model Ordinance (Apr. 2022)
PennFuture Model Solar Zoning Ordinance
F.P. Becker, Centre Regional Council of Governments and Centre Regional Planning Agency, Solar-Permissive Model Zoning Ordinances: Rationale, Consideration, and Examples
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), American Planning Association, Planning for Solar Energy (2013)
Solar@Scale, A Local Government Guidebook for Improving Large-Scale Solar Development Outcomes (Sep. 2021)
Haub Law, Zoning for Solar Energy: Resource Guide (2015)
State Laws and Regulations
Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) Program (2020)
Fullbright & Jaworski, LLP, Model Solar Energy Access Legislation (2010)
Grid and Regional Transmission Organizations
The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), Conservation Considerations for Siting, Planning, and Maintaining Grid-Scale Solar Systems in Pennsylvania (Oct. 2022)
Mark Bolinger, et al., Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Utility-Scale Solar, 2022 Edition, Empirical Trends in Deployment, Technology, Cost, Performance, PPA Pricing, and Value in the United States (Sep. 2022)
Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), The State(s) of Distributed Solar – 2021 Update (posted May 2022
Frost, Brown, Todd, LLC Attorneys, Pennsylvania DEP official: Regulation of Utility-Scale Solar Projects in Pennsylvania is a Local Matter (posted Jun. 23, 2021)
Severin Borenstein, Energy Institute Blog, UC Berkeley, What Can Distributed Generation Do for the Grid? (posted Sep. 28, 2020)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Tracking the Sun, Pricing and Design Trends for Distributed Photovoltaic Systems in the United States, 2019 Edition (Oct. 2019)
Owen Zinaman, et al., National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Grid-Connected Distributed Generation: Compensation Mechanism Basics (Oct. 2017)
Dustin Mulvaney, Identifying the roots of Green Civil War over utility-scale solar energy projects on public lands across the American Southwest, Journal of Land Use Science (Aug. 2017)
Advanced Energy Economy, Distributed Energy Resources 101: Required Reading for a Modern Grid (posted Feb. 2017)
Greening the Grid, Grid-Integrated Distributed Solar: Addressing Challenges for Operations and Planning (Mar. 2016)
Ardani, et al., National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), A State-Level Comparison of Processes and Timelines for Distributed Photovoltaic Interconnection in the United States (Jan. 2015)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Distributed Generation of Electricity and its Environmental Impacts
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, Renewable Energy: Distributed Generation Policies and Programs
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, Solar Integration: Distributed Energy Resources and Microgrids
Greening the Grid, Distributed Generation
Government Policy, Promotion and Incentives
Federal
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, Homeowner’s Guide to the Federal Tax Credit for Solar Photovoltaics (updated Sep. 2022)
Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Energy Incentives for Individuals: Residential Property Updated Questions and Answers (updated Apr. 2021)
State
Solar Electric, Solar Energy Tax Incentives by State
Jacob Marsh, EnergySage, Solar property tax exemptions: are they available where you live? (posted Aug. 22, 2017)
New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, Solar Market Development Tax Credit (SMTDC)
Leasing
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, Farmer’s Guide to Going Solar
New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA), Solar Program (NY-Sun), Leasing Your Land
Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC), Solar Land Lease Agreements for Landowners, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Peggy Kirk Hall, et al., Ohio State University Extension, Farmland Owner’s Guide to Solar Leasing (Aug. 2019)
Eric Romich, Ohio State University Extension, Considerations for Utility Scale Solar Farm Land Lease Agreements (Feb. 2017)
Penn State Extension, Landowner Leasing for Utility Scale Solar Farms
Penn State Extension, Pennsylvania Landowners Guide to Utility-Scale Solar Leasing (updated Apr. 2022)
Penn State Extension, Land Leasing for Solar Development
YSG Solar, Guide to Solar Land Leases: New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Maine (Aug. 2020)
YSG Solar, Solar Farm Land Lease Rates (Oct. 2020)
Small Farms Cornell Program, Considerations when Leasing Agricultural Lands to Solar Developers (Apr. 2020)
Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), Guide to Land Leases for Solar (Jul. 2016)
Dave Gahl and Ben Norris, Solar and Storage Industries Institute, Large-Scale Solar Siting: Encouraging Ecosystem Enhancement and Conservation While Producing Much Needed Zero-Carbon Electricity (Sep. 20, 2022)
OYA Renewables, 5 Questions You Should Ask Before Leasing Your Land for a Solar Farm
Pennsylvania Association of Realtors, Solar Leases: Landowners Beware (posted Feb. 21, 2020)
Solar Land Lease, Lease Rates for Solar Farms: How Valuable Is My Land?
