Mid-Hudson Regional Solar Mapping Project: Spring 2022
Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, New Yorkers for Clean Power, Scenic Hudson and the Mid-Hudson Regional Sustainability Coalition Energy Working Group are actively seeking a second cohort of municipalities to use the Scenic Hudson’s Solar Mapping Tool to determine good areas for the development of solar and other renewables — ideally with storage– in their municipality, including areas that would be good if grid interconnection was available, and to identify areas to be avoided and protected, such as forested areas and prime agricultural lands. Sometimes solar and agriculture can be collocated for mutual benefit, which is called “agrivoltaics.” The practices recommended in the Solar Mapping Tool will send an important signal to developers and ensure that local planning and zoning are aligned to support opportunities to achieve the NYS goal of 70% renewable generation by 2030 and 100% by 2040. It is very important that solar and related development projects be locally led, not prepared by the counties or state, since it’s within the local municipality that siting and development will take place.
This training can help municipalities go from being passive (and sometimes unprepared) decision-makers to becoming active, informed leaders in the urgently needed transition to a renewable energy economy by making wise decisions about utilizing municipal properties for possible solar development and by encouraging landowners in their municipality to take action, where appropriate, and to know where it is not. David Barton, Building Department Director for the Town of Lloyd, which beta tested Scenic Hudson’s Mapping Tool, had this to say: “Regarding the Solar Tool, it is a wonderful asset for municipalities. A great deal of work went into it. What the team at Scenic Hudson did is extraordinary. As you know, any assistance municipalities can get in helping to make more informed decisions is always valuable. This is certainly one of those tools that does help.”
The first cohort of 12 municipalities to complete the Fall 2021 training gave consistently excellent reviews, including:
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“It was interesting to see how the tool could be used to evaluate a specific site.”
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“The amount of data layers within the solar mapping tool is very useful. All of the layers were designed with many factors taken into consideration to allow us to make ‘smart solar’ choices.”
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“The training increased my ability to evaluate an area from the different considerations: biodiversity, electric utility, land forms, etc.”
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“I learned about the relationship between land use and hosting capacity and now have the ability to identify potential sites for photovoltaics and to anticipate potential problems.”
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“I gained an understanding of the various issues facing the different communities and enjoyed connecting with other people struggling with solar siting issues.”
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“The depth of information the tool provided and the insights into my municipality were especially valuable.
