SOLAR RULES TO MOVE SUN UP

Fight For Your Right: How A New Project Could Transform Solar Access Laws
Jessica Lillian, October 13, 2011 (University of Missouri and Solar Industry)

"Neighbor-against-neighbor legal battles over airspace, town councils' grid-capacity concerns and myriad other local solar permitting and access problems continue to frustrate PV installers and would-be customers. Making matters worse are the inconsistent and often confusing permit rules in the U.S. for installing solar arrays…

"…[Troy Rule, associate professor at the University of Missouri School of Law] hopes to put an end to this legal patchwork and remove a major market barrier for solar. Thanks to a $52,800 grant from industry group SolarTech (a portion of a $2.5 million award that SolarTech recently received from the U.S. Department of Energy), he is developing a set of standardized model ordinances and statutes for local governments."

click thru for SunRun's solution to solar red tape

"As the number of residential and commercial installations in the U.S. increases, the issue of solar rights has emerged as one of the thorniest legal problems…[A] few states have a solar rights rule requiring that residents do not impede operation of a neighbor's solar installation - such as by planting a large tree or building a sunlight-blocking home addition. Others require the solar array owner to sell an access easement, while others have no laws on the issue…

"…Rule says his model ordinance will adopt what he considers the fairest approach…[When his] ordinances and statutes are finalized, local governments will be provided with the completed models, which they may or may not opt to incorporate into their own codes. Because of the individual needs of each city and town, each ordinance is designed for flexibility, with many optional provisions built into it…"