Companies weigh in on proposed solar law
A public hearing on proposed regulations of solar installation only drew comments from three companies that largely supported language governing size and locations.
The session was conducted Thursday during a Town Board meeting, with officials saying the rules were drafted to address the growing interest in large and small scale solar projects.
“Currently our zoning code is silent as to the use of solar farms and solar equipment,” town attorney Jason Kovacs said. “This local law is a proposal to encourage and promote solar energy systems while protecting the health and safety of the residents of the town of Ulster.”
Hudson Solar company President Jeff Irish suggested the definition of small systems be revised from 10 kilowatts to 25 kilowatts, which is the figure used by state regulations.
“As the cost of solar has come down the size of systems has increased,” he said. “They become more affordable. When I started the company in 2002 the average system was about three kilowatts in size (for) residential, four or five years ago it was seven, and now we’re approaching nine or 10 as people choose to do things like get off oil and put in air source heat pumps and get electric vehicles.”
Cypress Creek manager Anne Waling said officials should address concerns about having systems close to utility lines.
“Our site selection for utility scale projects is heavily dependant on interconnection ability,” she said. “We can’t always pick a site that maybe isn’t wooded because we want to put the power close to a substation or close to a good distribution line so we don’t have to do any upgrades and it’s maybe a little more affordable and there’s less impact on the infrastructure.”
New York State Solar Farm founder Anthony Sicari asked officials to consider allowing systems to take up more space on properties than proposed under the regulations.
“The only comment I have is on the part that says no greater than 50 percent of the parcel will be permitted for use on a solar farm plant,” he said.
Sicari suggested that a larger area be allowed if the facility was buffered from public view.
“If you have a site that’s not visible and tucked away, (there should) be some accommodation for that,” he said.
In the proposed law, solar farms and power plants would be permitting in the office and manufacturing, industrial and residential of 60,000 square foot minimum zoning districts on parcels that are larger than 10 acres but cannot use more than 20 acres for equipment. Developers would need to receive a variance from the town Zoning Board of Appeals. Under the proposed law: • Small scale solar collection systems that produce 10 kilowatts of electric per hour would be allowed in all zoning districts but could only be used for the property they are on.
• Large scale solar facilities would need to be wildlife-friendly, with fences that have 5-by-12-inch openings at ground level for unencumbered travel by small animals.
• Owners of large scale systems will be required to remove any equipment that is not used for at least a year.
• Residential property owners would be allowed to participate in any net metering programs available through the state or utilities.
• Ground mounted small systems would have a 10foot height limit while large scale equipment would be restricted to 12 feet.