ALBANY COUNTY — On Monday, the state’s Public Service Commission approved New York’s Clean Energy Standard, meaning the state is to get half of its power from renewable energy by 2030.

After the commission’s proposal early this year, hundreds of New Yorkers came to public hearings and thousands submitted comments on Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposal for an enforceable renewable energy target.

The Clean Energy Standard, known as the CES, is to be enforced by requiring utilities and other energy suppliers to get a set number of renewable energy credits each year; those credits will be paid to developers to finance new renewable sources that will be added to the electric grid.

While subsidies for nuclear power plants and offshore wind projects are part of the mix to reach the ambitious 50-percent goal, locally, in Albany County, the push is on for solar — in both residential and commercial arrays.

In 2014, the governor committed nearly $1 billion to increase the number of solar electric systems across the state in the next decade. Incentives are overseen by NY-Sun, which is to add more than three gigawatts of solar capacity by 2023 — enough to power 400,000 homes. The overall goal is to develop a self-sufficient sustainable solar industry in New York.

NY-Sun has incentive programs for everyone from moderate-income residents and renters to schools and commercial and industrial companies.

One of its initiatives, the Solarize program, lets communities buy in groups for the most competitive pricing. Solarize Albany is one of three community campaigns in the Capital Region, which has a total of 92 projects underway. Helderberg Community Energy, made up of Hilltown volunteers, worked with Solarize Albany to get an agreement with Monolith Solar that will let people use solar-produced electricity without installing panels on their own.

The effects of the incentives, paired with the extended federal tax break for solar, can be seen in the increase of residential solar installations across Albany County. In suburban Bethlehem, for example, the number of home solar arrays went from just a handful in 2011 and 2012 to 80 in 2014 and 178 last year.

Solar panels require little maintenance, and can last 20 or 25 years. Homeowners — now with little or no money down — realize savings on their electric bills and, through net metering, can get credit for excess power generated by their systems.

New Scotland and two Helderberg Hilltowns are developing zoning ordinances to allow for solar farms as companies are contacting residents to lease parcels of land 10 acres or more to install solar arrays. Knox, with zoning that formerly prohibited such arrays, just adopted a law to allow them. (See related story and editorial.)

Similarly, Coeymans is working on such a law as its first large-scale project is ready to break ground. Bethlehem adopted a law earlier this year, spurred by a large array erected by Owens Corning to power its factory. Guilderland put a large project on hold until the town board adopted a new ordinance in June.

An overview follows of how Albany County towns with rural lands are handling both commercial and residential solar projects.

Guilderland

A solar-farm project proposed by U.S. Solutions Inc. for the former Peter Young Center — at the border of Altamont, Guilderland, and Knox on the hill above the village — was put on hold while Guilderland worked on revising its zoning code.

The new code was adopted in June, and the U.S. Solutions application will now be sent to Guilderland’s planning and zoning boards, according to Building and Zoning Inspector Jacqueline Coons.

“I think Knox has already started to consider the portion that’s in Knox,” Coons said.

Robert Price, chairman of the Knox Planning Board, said the only solar-farm application currently under consideration in Knox is one by Borrego for the Whipple farm. (See related story.)

Guilderland’s new zoning code says that homeowners and businesses alike, after applying for and receiving a building permit, may install either a ground-mounted or rooftop solar array for their own use. These types of systems are referred to as “Solar energy systems, accessory.” Under the new code, applicants need to follow a list of regulations for elements including size, height, buffering, and setback.

Individual-use solar arrays — whether rooftop or ground-mounted — are allowed in small-residential districts, as well as in rural and industrial areas.

However, solar farms — arrays that are intended to create energy that is greater than can be used on-site — will be allowed only in rural/agricultural and industrial zones, she said. They will require special-use permits from the planning board and the zoning board of appeals.

Coons said that the town has already been approving permits for individual-use arrays for some time, but that the new regulations will help the town to arbitrate as needed. For instance, she said, in the recent past, a neighbor complained about glare from an array at a Living Resources home in Westmere, occupied by residents with disabilities, but there were no stated regulations with which the town could ask the building owner to comply.

Coons added that the town is in the process of revising the building code. From October on, she said, the maximum allowable size of a rooftop array may be a bit smaller, “to address the safety of firefighters on roofs.”

The town does not take any particular stance toward solar energy that she knows of, said Coons. “We are willing to work with applicants on any projects as they come in, and just want to make sure that any projects are consistent with the town and the comprehensive plan.”

Bethlehem

Bethlehem has joined “a NYSERDA [New York State Energy Research and Development Authority] statewide group to have a single, uniform application for home installations,” said Supervisor John Clarkson. The five-page form is available on the town’s website.

“We’ve had positive feedback from solar installers — Monolith, SolarCity,” since it easier for them to work from a common form, rather than one that varies from town to town, said Robert Leslie, the town’s director of planning and economic development. He also said, “We’ve had positive comment on efficient turn-around”; the turn-around time is a week, he said.

The number of permits sought is steadily rising. “You can see the increase over the last few years as incentives have come in,” said Leslie. In 2011, he said, Bethlehem issued four permits for home solar installations, and the next year issued five.

In 2013, there was a jump to 29. In 2014, Bethlehem issued 80 and, in 2015, the town issued 178. The trend is continuing upward, Leslie said, although he hasn’t yet complied figures for 2016.

He attributed the increase to the state program.

Bethlehem passed a law in February that “clarifies, simplifies, and facilitates installations,” said Clarkson. The new law applies to both residential and commercial installations.

A special-use permit is required for a residential roof installation only if it is greater than 12 kilowatts. All ground-mounted systems require a special-use permit, under the new law. Ground-mounted systems are allowed in side yards and backyards but not in front yards; they must be at least 10 feet from the property line and they can’t be taller than 12 feet.

Screening may be required by the planning board, which would be determined through the special-use permit process, Leslie said.

Bethlehem’s new law was spurred by a large solar array sought by Owens Corning on Route 32. “That went in prior to the new code and prompted us to deal with it,” said Leslie. The Owens Corning array, which runs beside the highway, produces electricity used entirely at the plant.

The 2.7-megawatt array was put in in 2013, after planning board review, on nine acres near the factory. The contractor, Constellation, received incentives from the state’s NY-Sun program after going through a competitive NYSERDA bidding process.

Although Leslie said he is aware of large landowners in town being solicited by solar companies, no company has applied for a special-use permit since the law was adopted. “We’ve heard talk around town but nothing has materialized,” he said.

The only other large array in town besides Owen Corning’s is one for the town itself. It was put in through an agreement with Nextera. The 3-megawatt solar farm is on Bridge Street at the site of a vacant clay mine, said Leslie; it is largely hidden from view.

The array offsets electricity costs for town facilities, most notably the sewage system and water system, said Leslie.

“It was new ground for us,” said Leslie of drafting Bethlehem’s solar legislation. “We looked at sample codes from around the state and across the country and took the best of each,” he said. The town also got help from NYSERDA in developing the code.

For a commercial installation, anything generating over 12 kilowatts of electricity for off-site users has to have a special-use permit. Solar farms in Bethlehem may be located in these districts: heavy industrial, rural light industrial, mixed economic development, and rural. They are prohibited in residential districts.

If a solar farm were to be built next to a residential property, greater setbacks would be required. “The goal is to minimize visual impact,” said Leslie.

The new law also provides for decommissioning plans. “We’re aware of large-scale solar businesses going out of business,” said Leslie.

An applicant has to provide a plan on how to remove a solar array as well as an engineer’s cost estimate for removal, and the town requires a letter of credit to serve as financial security.

“Every year, they need to provide the town with an annual report showing the rated capacity of the system and the amount of electricity generated by the system,” said Leslie, explaining that, in this way, “We can see that it is still in use for the size approved. If we see they are not meeting capacity, the planning board can say, ‘Why haven’t you met capacity?’ If we see that trend, we can implement the decommission.”

New Scotland

New Scotland Supervisor Douglas LaGrange says there has recently been pressure to adopt measures to allow solar with state incentives and federal tax credits for solar, as well as the chance to invest in renewable energy.

His family’s farm, owned by his father, Marvin, was approached by six different companies to have solar arrays built on the property. The farm is mostly in New Scotland but has some land in Bethlehem.

Right now, commercial arrays are not allowed in New Scotland but the town is set on drafting legislation. LaGrange believes the process to change the zoning laws would start around September and last about three months. It would begin with the town board and would involve approvals from the planning and zoning boards as well as the county.

The town is working from Bethlehem’s new solar code as well as consulting other sources, he said.

“There is no sense in reinventing the wheel for us, but we want to accommodate things,” said LaGrange. “There’s a whole lot of levels of concern before we jump into it.”

He also said, “I don’t anticipate the sun going out, so I think we’re safe to take our time.”

LaGrange said there is concern over the aesthetics of solar panels in a community that is dedicated to staying rural, as well as the tradeoff of cropland for building solar arrays, but added that the “positives are self-evident” regarding the potential renewable energy.

“There is interest, definitely interest,” said the town’s building inspector, Jeffry Pine, although he said that there have been no official proposals from solar companies to set up in the town.

He said the technology has moved faster than the zoning laws.

While commercial zoning is not allowed in the town, residents can apply for a permit to use solar panels as an energy source for their homes or businesses. Pine says he handles two or three applications a week or even more, usually for roof panels or the more popular rack of panels.

“They come in pretty steady” he said, regarding the permit application. “I think that the most popular permit we issue is solar.”

Pine said that the increase in permit applications was seen over the last two years, and attributes the popularity to more aggressively selling solar companies, improving technology, lowered prices, and a federal tax credit that allows residents to claim up to 30 percent of the expenses of installing solar or other renewable energy systems (within certain specifications). For solar installations, tax credits may be reaped up to the year 2021.

The regulations surrounding the installation of a solar panel or a solar array involve a similar procedure to most structures being added to a property, according to Pine. The process of installing solar panels or arrays will involve obtaining a building permit, a roof analysis if using panels, inspections of the building or property, and a new meter from the power company. Solar arrays, like most accessory structures, must be at least 10 feet from the building and 5 feet from the property line.

Pine said the size of the panels is not limited, but should match the electrical usage of the home or business. The excess electricity occasionally obtained from using solar is sold back to the owner at a wholesale price of a few cents a kilowatt, “so it doesn’t really make sense to go bigger” in solar panel size, said Pine.

Currently, businesses can use solar as a means of providing electricity for their facilities, but otherwise cannot make a profit off the energy otherwise in the town.

Coeymans

Coeymans currently has its first application for a solar farm pending, according to the town’s building inspector, John Cashin. The Monolith Solar project will have 840 panels and cover about an acre, he said.

"It’s a net metering system,” said Cashin, explaining, “It works good if you have a business but no place to put solar.”

The project has gone through planning review for site-plan approval. “They just haven’t broken ground,” Cashin said. Since Coeymans currently has no law dealing specifically with solar projects, Monolith went through the same review process any new commercial building or business would have gone through.

The planning board required that Monolith enclose the array with fencing, said Cashin, and also required Monolith to have a decommissioning plan.

“I’m working on a law,” said Cashin; he is drafting an ordinance for Coeymans based on those from other New York towns like Coxsackie and Geneva.

Since the life of a solar farm is typically 20 to 25 years, he said, “A lot of towns have laws to make the landowner responsible for a decommissioning plan. Some language makes them put up a bond.”

For residential solar, Coeymans has a flat $50 fee that covers 2,00 square feet of surface area; anything over that costs an additional 5 cents per square foot.

Residential solar installations on the ground have to be the same distance from the lot line as a building. “It’s considered a structure,” said Cashin. The town has no further restrictions, such as for screening. “Aesthetics-wise, no,” said Cashin. “A lot of local laws have a maximum height.”

Cashin said he gets one or two permit requests for residential solar permits each week. “There are eight sitting on my desk right now,” he said last Friday. The volume of requests has been steady for the past two years, he said, noting there are 7,418 parcels in town.

“I would expect to keep going at the same rate. When solar first started, it was $20,000 to $30,000 out of pocket,” he said, a high cost for most homeowners to bear. “Now all you have to do is make the first payment and they put it in for free.”

A lot of the installations are leased, he said, where the resident plays a flat monthly fee that is less then the former electric bill.

Coeymans’ code for residential solar-panel installations will change in October, Cashin said. One change will accommodate firefighters who have difficulty navigating roofs of burning houses when the roofs are covered with panels. “The new code will specify a three-foot path around solar panels so they can get around and cut to ventilate,” said Cashin.

Another problems firefighters have had, when working at night to put out a fire, is their searchlights activate the panels.

The new code will require that the solar wiring is in conduits, Cashin said. And, he said, “All electric wiring has to be inspected by an approved third-party electrical inspector…They send us a certificate.”

When inspecting a solar site, Cashin said, “We look for stickers on the meter. They tell the fire service and utility company that there’s solar energy.”

Another part of the permit process, he said, is getting a letter from an engineer to certify that the roof will support the solar panels. This is generally not a problem, Cashin said, because most solar panels weigh four pounds per square foot and most roofs in town support 40 to 50 pounds.

— Elizabeth Floyd Mair reported on Guilderland, H. Rose Schneider reported on New Scotland, and Melissa Hale-Spencer reported on Bethlehem and Coeymans and on the Clean Energy Standard.