Siting and Permitting
The solar and storage industry is growing at an exponential pace. Experts at SI2 are supporting this progress with cutting-edge research focused on addressing existing barriers and opening new pathways for project deployment.
Siting and Permitting
The solar and storage industry is growing at an exponential pace. Experts at SI2 are supporting this progress with cutting-edge research focused on addressing existing barriers and opening new pathways for project deployment.
Siting and Permitting
The solar and storage industry is growing at an exponential pace. Experts at SI2 are supporting this progress with cutting-edge research focused on addressing existing barriers and opening new pathways for project deployment.
ABOUT —
What is Siting and Permitting?
Across the nation, the full potential of solar and storage is being held back by conflicts over land use, inconsistent policies and complex permitting challenges.
As the demand for electricity grows, large-scale solar projects are increasingly needed, requiring significant acreage primarily in rural communities. The development of these areas often involves trade-offs, with a complex set of motivating factors for a large number of stakeholders. Faced with this complexity and limited resources, some communities are erecting barriers to solar and storage development.
Inconsistent policies across the nation pose significant siting and permitting challenges for developers in every state. Such challenges add time, cost and complexity to the solar development process, leading to project delays and raising electricity cost.
FEATURED —
Solar Uncommon Dialogue
As co-convener of the Solar Uncommon Dialogue, SI2 is bringing industry and non-governmental organizations together to come up with siting and permitting reforms and best practices that can help us meet our growing energy needs.
SI2 is leading a team of researchers to identify community engagement strategies that improve siting processes and outcomes for large-scale solar projects. Under the U.S. Department of Energy’s SEEDS 4 program, and leveraging the work of the Solar Uncommon dialogue, SI2 and partners will identify possible strategies, test those strategies at proposed solar project sites and assess the effect of these strategies on siting outcomes.
Permitting by the Numbers
communities have established local restricitons on large-scale renewable development in recent years.
%
gigawatts of solar installations are expected to be installed over the next decade, more than tripling current installations.
years is the average period of time the siting and permitting process can take for a solar and storage installation.
Our Commitment
SI2 is committed to identifying solutions that address land use conflicts and result in better outcomes for communities and industry.
Our experts are also focused on addressing challenges related to the siting and permitting of solar projects. We are working to provide states with model policy legislation to clarify this process, reduce delays and streamline decision making.
LEARN MORE —
Explore Our Work
Model Policy
SI2 is at the forefront of identifying evidence-based policy solutions to address the systemic challenges facing the solar and storage industry and that reflect individual communities’ and stakeholders’ needs.
Agrivoltaics
As solar continues to expand, farmland has become an attractive option for project siting. By integrating solar with agriculture, farms across the country demonstrate how agrivoltaics benefit their operations and local economies.
Interconnection
The ability to connect solar and storage systems to the grid quickly and efficiently is essential to scaling solar projects across the nation. SI2 is actively working to streamline the interconnection process.
LEARN MORE —
Explore Our Work
Model Policy
SI2 is at the forefront of identifying evidence-based policy solutions to address the systemic challenges facing the solar and storage industry and that reflect individual communities’ and stakeholders’ needs.
Agrivoltaics
As solar continues to expand, farmland has become an attractive option for project siting. By integrating solar with agriculture, farms across the country demonstrate how agrivoltaics benefit their operations and local economies.
Interconnection
The ability to connect solar and storage systems to the grid quickly and efficiently is essential to scaling solar projects across the nation. SI2 is actively working to streamline the interconnection process.
LEARN MORE —
Explore Our Work
Model Policy
SI2 is at the forefront of identifying evidence-based policy solutions to address the systemic challenges facing the solar and storage industry and that reflect individual communities’ and stakeholders’ needs.
Interconnection
The ability to connect solar and storage systems to the grid quickly and efficiently is essential to scaling solar projects across the nation. SI2 is actively working to streamline the interconnection process.
Agrivoltaics
As solar continues to expand, farmland has become an attractive option for project siting. By integrating solar with agriculture, farms across the country demonstrate how agrivoltaics benefit their operations and local economies.