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356 <br />permit fee should be charged for different types of solar systems, and best <br />357 <br />practices advocacy available). <br />358 <br />359 <br />Ms. Barsel asked if this should include the code addressing the entire range of <br />360 <br />options and applicable processes and fees for residential and commercial <br />361 <br />installations. <br />362 <br />363 <br />Mr. Ross responded affirmatively, anticipating few changes in best practices <br />364 <br />required in zoning for roof installations, and fortunately noted that the <br />365 <br />comprehensive plan portion would be wrapped up in the updates of those plans <br />366 <br />with the Metropolitan Council. Mr. Ross noted that the Metropolitan Council was <br />367 <br />participating in Phase II and Solar Ready Community components at this time, <br />368 <br />and his firm and the industry was trying to get them to formally recognize <br />369 <br />communities having met statutory standard requirements for solar in the Council's <br />370 <br />comprehensive plan review and approval process. <br />371 <br />372 <br />Mr. Schwartz questioned if there was anything prohibiting a community from <br />373 <br />moving forward while these longer-term processes are pending; and asked Mr. <br />374 <br />Ross what he would recommend for the PWETC's neat steps in making a <br />375 <br />recommendation to the City Council. Mr. Schwartz also asked Mr. Ross to speak <br />376 <br />briefly about particular opportunities for credits and timeframes coming up and <br />377 <br />current solar rewards programs. <br />378 <br />379 <br />Specific to the solar rewards program, Mr. Ross reported that Xcel Energy's <br />380 <br />program had just opened up applications for the neat round of funding, which was <br />381 <br />of course creating a land rush to submit applications; however, it was not yet <br />382 <br />completely subscribed. Mr. Ross clarified that their process was not a lottery <br />383 <br />process, but they evaluated each project according to their award criteria. If the <br />384 <br />City of Roseville was thinking of taking advantage of this round, Mr. Ross <br />385 <br />suggested that they do so quickly, as there was a limitation on those solar rewards, <br />386 <br />with one for 20 KW and the other for 40 KW between two different programs, the <br />387 <br />Solar Rewards program and the Minnesota Made program, both with different <br />388 <br />application windows and varying criteria, with both programs opening <br />389 <br />applications on an annual basis. <br />390 <br />391 <br />Mr. Ross suggested a good first step for the PWETC to consider would be to <br />392 <br />move ahead with the site assessment process and what made the most sense, <br />393 <br />especially for considering a community solar system and its size, noting that the <br />394 <br />larger the system, the bigger bang for the buck, but then needing more land, more <br />395 <br />interconnection review, and reviewing adjacent land uses and roof structures, etc. <br />396 <br />Mr. Ross noted that such a preliminary assessment was necessary in any regard; <br />397 <br />and with the solar mapping data available, and some already done by the City of <br />398 <br />Roseville, they could overlay their other criteria onto that, and suggested that <br />399 <br />analysis get started quickly as a preliminary step to put the City in a good place <br />400 <br />moving forward. <br />401 <br />Page 9 of 15 <br />