From Anchorage, Alaska, to Sarasota, Florida, more than 300 local governments have now met national benchmarks for encouraging the growth of solar energy and removing barriers to solar market development.

These local governments have each received designation under SolSmart, a national program launched in 2016 that helps local governments make it faster, easier, and more affordable to go solar. SolSmart has now achieved its goal to designate at least 300 local governments as SolSmart Gold, Silver, or Bronze, for a total of 328 communities and counting.

SolSmart is led by The Solar Foundation and ICMA, and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office. All designated communities have met national criteria to prove they have streamlined local procedures to make it easier for homes and businesses to install solar energy systems. SolSmart provides intensive technical assistance at no cost to help communities meet these goals.

The 328 SolSmart designees include cities, counties, small towns, and regional organizations in 40 states and the District of Columbia, representing 82 million people. One in four people in America now live in a SolSmart-designated community.

The actions that SolSmart communities have taken help reduce soft costs, which are the non-hardware costs that today represent roughly 65% of the cost of solar installations. SolSmart helps local governments streamline permit approvals, review planning and zoning guidelines, facilitate group purchase campaigns, and improve solar financing options. Taken together, these actions help lower the overall costs of solar installations and allow the solar industry to expand more rapidly nationwide.

Of the 328 communities, 129 have been designated SolSmart Gold, indicating that they have reached the program’s highest level of achievement. All Gold designated communities have reduced permitting turnaround times to 3 days or less for rooftop solar projects.

An additional 75 communities have achieved SolSmart Silver designation, while 124 have achieved SolSmart Bronze. Nearly one-fourth of all designees (79 in total) started out as Bronze and then worked with the SolSmart technical assistance team to improve local programs and practices and move up to Silver or Gold designation.

Among the 328 designees, some noteworthy achievements include:

• 189 communities have set up web pages with detailed information on how members of the public can go solar.
• 226 have ensured that zoning ordinances allow rooftop solar installations in all major areas without excessive restrictions or barriers.
• 108 have set up group purchase campaigns, providing savings for residents and helping the solar industry reduce customer acquisition costs.
• 95 have an online permitting submission option, speeding up approvals for installations.
• All 328 designees have established a set of unique solar goals to help drive continual improvement in their local solar market.

One of the program’s linchpins for success was that communities competed to receive on-the-ground technical assistance from SolSmart advisors, who are trained professional staff that live and work in the region for approximately six months. SolSmart advisors work efficiently across local and state boundaries to help communities share ideas and achieve solar energy goals.

Throughout the month of October, these 300 communities are planning events, local announcements, and other special activities to highlight their solar energy achievements. More information on these communities and their achievements can be found here.