Ten ways America’s cities can go solar

New toolkit offers best practices for local communities to harness the power of the sun

Environment America Research & Policy Group

BOSTON — America’s cities and towns continue to be best positioned to lead the clean energy revolution. To aid their efforts, Environment America Research and Policy Center has released an updated toolkit, Ten Ways Your Community Can Go Solar, that offers practical ways for cities to take advantage of the millions of rooftops across the country and adopt more solar energy. 

“Solar energy is clean, abundant, close to home and more affordable than ever. It should be a no-brainer for communities to go solar,” said Ben Sonnega, Go Solar campaign associate with Environment America Research & Policy Center. “American cities are already forging ahead with tried and true policies that quickly bring the benefits of solar. We want to help other cities learn from those examples and continue propelling the transition to renewable energy.” 

Ten Ways Your Community Can Go Solar details how cities can lead by example, expand access, remove obstacles and work with other institutions to harness solar energy. It also includes case studies where these policies have been successful. In addition, Environment America Research & Policy Center is holding a webinar series to discuss these tactics.

The toolkit is part of Environment America Research & Policy Center’s ongoing work to encourage solar energy adoption. The organization has also organized a bipartisan coalition of more than 300 mayors from across the country– including at least one mayor in every state — who have signed onto a statement calling for more solar energy to power American communities.

“When it comes to solar energy in our cities, progress is contagious,” said Sonnega. “But some places need help getting started, or have hit roadblocks at some step along the way. Even the top solar cities could take their energy leadership to another level. We want to give communities the tools to achieve their full solar potential.”

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Environment America Research & Policy Center is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to protecting our air, water and open spaces. We work to protect the places we love, advance the environmental values we share, and win real results for our environment. Environment America Research & Policy Center is part of The Public Interest Network, which runs organizations committed to our vision of a better world, a set of core values, and a strategic approach to getting things done.