Representatives from 25 cities around the nation recently gathered in Philadelphia for the 4th annual Solar America Cities meeting to share findings on emerging trends in urban energy use and to discuss solutions to local solar barriers, such as zoning, financing and unwieldy permitting processes.
At the conference, Department of Energy Acting Under Secretary of Energy Dr. Arun Majumdar announced a Request for Information (RFI) for a solar challenge specifically designed to address permitting issues in cities. The RFI will foster solutions to help eliminate barriers to solar market development, save customers time and money and accelerate the adoption of solar energy in communities nationwide.
The RFI focuses on four areas crucial to solar market growth: standardizing permitting processes, improving interconnection and net metering standards, increasing access to financing, and minimizing siting restrictions. 
The challenge builds on the success of the Solar America Cities program in lowering solar energy costs, and supports the Department of Energy’s recently announced SunShot initiative to reduce the cost of solar energy by 75 percent by the end of the decade. In 2007 and 2008, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) designated 25 major U.S. cities as Solar America Cities and provided financial and technical assistance to help the cities develop comprehensive approaches to increasing solar energy use. Sixteen of these designees received additional Recovery Act funding in 2009 for special projects that tackle specific barriers to urban solar energy use. The unique federal-local partnerships have enabled DOE to identify barriers to solar energy use in diverse locations and at various stages of market development, and to collaboratively develop solutions to those barriers. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and the Solar America Cities program celebrated a local partnership success, flipping the switch on a new 250 kilowatt solar PV system. Source: Submitted by Susan Carollo
From The 2011 Seoul Motor Show: Hyundai Blue2 Concept
