San Antonio Selected as a Solar America City

"The Department of Energy's investment in the city of San Antonio is welcome support for our commitment to implementing solar energy technologies and programs," said the mayor. "I am proud that our city is being recognized for our leadership in the planning and implementation of clean and renewable solar technology at the local level."

This honor was accompanied by a $200,000 grant to implement the Solar San Antonio 2015 program. "In San Antonio, our objective is to develop and adopt a solar infrastructure for our city and realize the benefits of solar energy," said Councilwoman Diane Cibrian, who initiated the Solar America Cities request for San Antonio.

In addition to providing financial assistance, the Energy Department offers hands-on assistance from technical experts to help integrate solar technologies into energy planning, zoning and facilities. The process is meant to streamline local regulations and practices that affect solar adoption by residents and businesses.

This week, the Department of Energy is convening government leaders from 25 cities at the 2nd Annual Solar America Cities meeting. During the closed-door meeting 150 invited participants representing city teams from each of the 25 Solar America Cities will discuss topics related to solar energy, share best practices and present new ideas.

Participants will hear about advances in California - innovative solar financing programs from the City of Berkeley, San Jose's streamlined solar permitting, and San Francisco's Solar Champions, solar fairs, and rebate programs.

The team from New York City will share their experiences with using solar in older grid systems. New Orleans now is learning from New York and addressing its own grid as part of the rebuilding process.

The lack of sufficient training in solar techniques is an issue that affects all 25 of the Solar America cities. The Energy Department is taking a "train the trainer" approach that gives educators the tools to train students in the latest solar installation technologies.

The goal of the entire Solar America Cities program is to build energy security for the United States and combat global climate change by increasing the use of solar energy.

The Solar San Antonio 2015 project is intended to reduce barriers to the commercialization of solar energy technologies by supporting the development of solar friendly city policies and procedures. The City plans to accelerate the use of solar power in existing and new city-owned buildings and install a replicable high-visibility solar energy system on city property.

As part of the project, San Antonio will promote solar technology among residents and local businesses through outreach campaigns and rebate programs.

The City Public Service Northside Customer Service Center in San Antonio has 5,000 sq ft. of solar thermal hot water collectors and 2,000 sq ft. of photovoltaics on the roof. (Photo courtesy Solar San Antonio)

In addition, municipally-owned City Public Service Energy has demonstrated its solar direction with a 100-megawatt request for proposals as part of its new commitment to sustainability. CPS Energy already has spent $369 million on sustainability-related projects and plans to allocate another $5.3 billion in the next 12 years.

"CPS Energy definitely has an important role to play in the community-wide sustainability initiative that we have been coordinating at the City of San Antonio," Mayor Hardberger said.

Environmental groups support solar efforts in San Antonio and in Texas as a whole. The Public Citizen report Texas Solar Roundup published in February, suggests that by adopting a solar-based renewable portfolio standard of 4,000 megawatt capacity within 10 years, ramping up rebate programs, and ensuring fair buy-back prices for homemade power, the state is ready to reel in "22,000 manufacturing and installation jobs, stabilize energy prices, and avoid 29 million tons of climate change inducing pollution."

"The solar rebate program and other incentives recommended in this report would do much to make solar installations affordable for San Antonio homeowners and businesses," said Anita Ledbetter, executive director of the Metropolitan Partnership for Energy and Build San Antonio Green.

"The Department of Energy recognizes the important role cities play as champions of progressive renewable energy efforts, and we are especially excited to see San Antonio making this commitment," said Tom Kimbis, the DOE's director of the Solar America Cities program.

"Solar is a key component of our national energy strategy, and through our Solar America Cities program, we are working to improve the nation's energy security and combat global climate change," Kimbis said. "Spotlighting progressive cities like San Antonio is helping us do just that."

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2009. All rights reserved.