DOE has developed this comprehensive resource—Solar Powering Your Community: A Guide for Local Governments—to assist local governments and stakeholders in designing and implementing a strategic, local solar plan. This guide includes examples and models that have been field-tested in cities around the country. Many of the examples are direct results of DOE’s Solar America Cities activity.

You can use this guide to stimulate ideas or as a framework for a comprehensive solar plan for your community. Each section is divided into topic areas—typically within the jurisdiction of local governments—that have been integral in creating and supporting local solar markets. Each topic area begins with an introduction that describes the policy or program and states its purpose followed by more information on benefits from implementing the policy or program; tips and options for designing and implementing the policy or program; examples that highlight experiences from communities that have successfully implemented the policy or program; and additional reports, references, and tools that offer more information on the topic, where applicable.