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i n n esota <br />Solar Challeng <br />What is the Minnesota Solar Challenge? <br />The Minnesota Solar Challenge provides support for communities across Minnesota that may be interested <br />in capturing the benefit of their local solar energy resource. Minnesota Solar Challenge partners will work <br />with communities across Minnesota until February 2013 to implement local government best practices in <br />permitting and zoning. The project aims to create an economically self-sustaining solar energy industry and <br />opportunities for homeowners and businesses to more effectively use their solar energy resource. <br />Non -hardware costs such as permitting, installation, design, and <br />maintenance currently account for up to 40 percent of the total <br />cost of installed rooftop solar photovoltaic systems in the United <br />States. Lowering these costs is an important part of growing the <br />solar energy industry so that it can create newjobs for American <br />workers, improve U.S, energy security, and provide clean, <br />renewable energy for American families and businesses. <br />What are "best practices" d <br />Local governments have a number of opportunities for <br />advancing solar energy resources and promoting the <br />development of a solar energy industry. Best practices for local <br />governments include standardizing permitting processes for <br />addressing solar technologies, updating land use policies and <br />zoning codes, and increasing access to financing. Incorporating <br />such best practices into local government operations can enable <br />property owners to capture their solar resource consistent with <br />community land use, aesthetic, and safety standards. <br />What assistance is being offered? <br />the Minnesota Solar Challenge is offering free technical assistance to communities wlio want to investigate <br />adopting local government best practices for enabling solar energy development. BesE practices focus on: <br />■ Removing barriers in local permitting processes (building and electric) <br />■ Understanding and adopting reasonable permit fees charged to solar installations <br />■ Ensuring that land use regulation (including comprehensive plan language and zoning) See other side <br />treats solar energy installations fairly and consistently with other similar land uses for details on <br />assistance. <br />