Welcome Introduction to your presenters
Patti Smith
Solar Project Developer at Borrego Solar
• Focus is on developing solar projects for private and public sectors in New York and New Jersey
• She works with customers throughout the solar value chain, from land and property owners interested in leasing their land for solar to energy offtakers
• Prior to joining Borrego Solar, Patti spent 17 years in the wholesale energy industry
John C. Cappello Partner of Jacobwitz & Gubits LLP
• Lead partner in J&G’s Green Team focusing on advising a wide array of clients on the opportunities available in this emerging field of law
• Admitted in New York and California
• Board President of Orange County’s Regional Economic Community Action Program Inc. (RECAP); Orange County Citizens Foundation Land Use Committee and Pattern for Progress Affordable Housing Committee
•Growth of New York solar
•Solar development
•The ideal solar site
•Municipality role
•Misconceptions
•Process
•Lease Considerations
•Questions
Ithaca College’s Solar Installation
Growth of NY Solar
Driven by NY Sun Program, incentives and regulatory changes
• NY Sun Program
• MW Block Program
Solar-friendly regulations
• Net metering
• Receive a credit on your utility bill for the energy you generate
• Energy producing asset is built and tied to the utility meter at the same facility where some of the energy is being consumed
• Remote net metering
• Allowing for the generator of power and the consumer of power to be located at different physical sites providing the sites share a common utility and load zone
• Community solar farm
• Build a single solar farm and have multiple offtakers (any utility customer in same utility and NYISO load zone) opt-in to purchase the clean energy produced
• Take advantage of economies of scale
• Gives access to solar energy to those that don’t own their facilities, don’t have an ideal site for solar, can’t afford the capital investment to build solar, etc.
Benefits to general public
•Job creation
• More than 8,000 New Yorkers employed in solar
• 4th largest solar employer in the U.S.
•Economic benefits
• Higher median wage than average ($20 vs $17.09 in 2015*)
•Carbon reduction
•Reduces reliance on fossil fuels
•Reduces wear on aging energy infrastructure
*Solar Foundation data (www.solarstates.org)
Solar Development
Solar Development
The different types of solar energy systems being developed
• Roof-mounted
• Small-scale
• Ground-mount solar
• Rows of solar panels (modules) strung together are an array
• Refers to a large (non-residential) array built on a remote location, typically on underutilized ag land, landfill, brownfield, etc.
• Can credit multiple accounts held by a single offtaker via remote net metering
Solar Development
Parties involved and benefits
Landowner
• Reliable source of revenue from a long-term lease
• Revenue can help sustain farming operations
Offtaker
• Energy savings
• Mitigate exposure to volatility in energy costs
• Environmental goals
Installer/Developer
• Receives payment to engineer, procure and construct
• May also provide operations and maintenance services
The Ideal Solar Site
The Ideal Solar Site
Land characteristics
•Minimum of 5 acres – size necessary for around a 1 megawatt system
•Shading considerations
•Less than 15 degree slope
•Free of vegetation
•Wetlands, wet areas or streams don’t break up site
•Environmental considerations
Utility needs
•Proximity to existing utility infrastructure (point of interconnection)
•Too far can be too expensive
•Local distribution grid needs to be able to handle additional load from solar farm
•Utility load zones that qualify and their ability to handle additional load
•Explicit application process
Municipality Role
Proper zoning
•Where are they permitted?
•Setbacks/excessive setbacks can encourage deforestation
•Screening and mitigation of visual impacts
•Height of structures
•Fencing and security
•Decommissioning
•Zoning for solar and the process – Can always re-evaluate
Misconceptions
Environmental and health
•Clear cutting forested areas--there are limitations to how much solar can be built
•Fear of loss of large areas of farmland?
•Fear of using massive amounts of pesticides to control vegetation growth
•Does not take more energy to make than they produce in their life time
•Are not noisy
•There isn’t significant glare
•Does not negatively impacts property values
Technology
•Don’t know what they’ll look like, but they’re fairly standard
• Panels are blue or black
• Can be fixed or trackers
•Technology won’t fail or will be trumped by more efficient options
• Technology is efficient and very similar to what it’s been for the past 50 years
• We’re not going to see some white knight of a technology disrupt the PV market anytime soon
• Declining cost of solar is mostly due to improvements in the installation costs and manufacturing of the materials
•Does not emit radiation
Lease Considerations
What does a typical solar land lease look like?
•Independent representation
•Flexibility
• Deals can be negotiated
• No two leases are the same
•Assignment of lease
• Typical lease terms and options
• Extensions
•Rates range--All of the factors mentioned in this presentation have an impact on this number
What does a typical solar land lease look like?
• Impact of increased assessment
• Rollback taxes
• Proportionality
• Typically sub-divide for every 2 MW array
• Setbacks
• Fencing and security
• Insurance requirements/considerations
• Easements
• Utility
• If you want to use unleased adjacent land for something, do you need to get permission from the owner of the solar farm?
• Removal and decommissioning
• What happens if the company is no longer there?
Application process
•Solar developers have to navigate a complex process to get these projects off the ground.
•Developer/Installer/EPC’s next steps
1. Entitlements
2. Interconnection application
3. Permitting with municipality
•Municipalities and landowners should hire an attorney who has experience in negotiating solar land lease deals and drafting local zoning laws that address the treatment and development of solar projects