Photo credit: Oscalito

While not nearly as prevalent as it once was, one historical argument against installing solar panels in communities and neighborhoods has been aesthetics. It is arguably a big reason for the surge in the thin-film sector of the solar industry. Indeed many neighborhood associations, city councils, and building departments around the country still have some laws limiting solar installations in their area.

Contrarily, as solar power progresses more and more into the mainstream of American life, many states and municipalities are passing laws or ordinances that essentially prohibit the prohibition of solar panels. Most forbid neighborhood associations and similar organizations from barring solar installations due to aesthetics. Some are going beyond that to make it even easier than normal to install solar panels, and a recent move in Santa Monica, Calif. is a good example.

In Santa Monica city councilors recently voted to streamline the solar installation process in their community for multi-family and commercial buildings. Now solar systems that “meet objective development standards” are to be approved without a public hearing, as was previously the case. The ordinance also allows panels to cross over established setbacks and extend above existing height limits. Single-family homes are not addressed in the ordinance.

The Santa Monica ordinance is evidence of the larger acceptance of solar power installations, in both energy and aesthetic. The preconception that solar is an eyesore may be fading into history, but in many cities and towns the battle rages on. In some cases it is not so much about ordinance against solar so much as it is local governmental ignorance about solar.

Take Connecticut for example, where many residents are running into trouble with their local government over permit fees, building codes and other issues. There it seems more of a problem with local building inspectors and permit review boards not knowing enough about solar installation, so fees can climb very high, discouraging people and businesses from installing solar and other green building techniques.

The Clean Energy Fund, Connecticut’s administrator of incentive programs, is working on a model ordinance that will help unify and streamline the solar process at the local level.

The same goes for Lehigh Valley, Penn., where state officials are working on a model for confused municipalities that will regulate solar installations. In Lehigh and Hartford they may be unlikely to go as far as Santa Monica to actually bend the rules for solar panels, but a uniform process will go a long way to saving consumers and the government money on unnecessary hearings or fees. It will also give local governments a base to work from as these and other governments around the nation adapt to the green building movement.

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Posted on July 14th in Solar Politics by Dan.