BETHLEHEM — An amendment passed easing the process of approving solar panels.
At the Wednesday, Feb. 24, Town Board meeting, the board moved unanimously to pass an amendment to the town’s zoning code to facilitate the construction of photovoltaic systems, after a public hearing.
“We feel it’s better to create a new code to better define ground-mounted systems, roof-mounted systems and integrated systems, where they can go,” and more qualifying questions, as Planning Director Rob Leslie described at last month’s January Town Board meeting.
“It defines what type of system a person is using and provides regulations on when and where it can occur,” he said.
Currently, applicants needed only to apply for a permit from the building department, but with the growth of solar use, the law places guidelines on approval.
The law comes from the Bethlehem Planning Board, and special approval for solar panels, and streamlines the process of solar panel approval for projects that fall beneath specific size and energy output limits.
Solar panel arrays below 12 kilowatts in output size are easily approvable. This equals about a 25- to 30-panel display. Each individual panel is about 8 feet high and 3 feet wide on average. In residential lots, panels are usually mounted on roofs. Additional considerations include town code on accessory structure limit, which include structures like garages and sheds, and now, solar panels.
Projects that exceed the new size guidelines of the ordinance could still be approved through a special use permit from the Planning Board. This process requires letters of notice be sent to neighbors and a public hearing, and applicants must pay a fee. Permits are ultimately given by the building department.
Prior to this point three large solar panel projects have been approved for the town and at least one home solar panel plan has been approved by the town every year for the past five years.
After the state released their 2015 energy plan, calling for a 40 percent reduction in gas emissions by 2023, large incentives have been placed for adopting solar panels.
The solar tax exemption, approved by state legislature, is now triggered with the passing of the local law easing the solar panel approval process. A 15-year exemption on property taxes for assessed solar panels both residentially and commercially is now available locally.
A separate state 30 percent tax credit for solar panel installation ends at the end of this year.