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From an engineering standpoint and the PWETC's role, Chair Stenlund expressed <br /> information from Mr. Ross on anything he was aware of in the market place that <br /> would indicate improving technologies that would reduce the payback period, and <br /> how that could be incorporated into the discussion tree(e.g. solar shingles, roads, <br /> walls, etc.). <br /> Mr. Ross admitted there had been a large social media front for the potential of <br /> solar roads; however, he opined that technology was very questionable from an <br /> engineering standpoint as a road surface, and may have a better application for a <br /> parking area surface. Mr. Ross advised that there had been dissention on whether <br /> or not those doing the study had focused on southern versus northern states in <br /> performing their research. Mr. Ross did note that technology is always changing, <br /> which may significantly change financials in the next few years; however, his <br /> response was that it was unlikely that those technological advances would change <br /> the efficiency level for panels, which were the main component in solar systems. <br /> While the efficiency of panels are low, Mr. Ross opined that obviously the more <br /> efficient the panel, the more expensive they were, but how that played out in <br /> manufacturing remained an unknown at this time. In considering how those <br /> future increased efficiencies of panels or technology versus a set of incentives, <br /> Mr. Ross opined was another dynamic. Mr. Ross noted there were some new <br /> products (e.g. solar installations in walls and windows) that were forthcoming; <br /> however, with that additional capability, the cost increased while their <br /> functionality decreased. Mr. Ross opined that the most reliable system remained <br /> silicone panels. <br /> At the request of Chair Stenlund, Mr. Ross opined that the ordinance he found <br /> most appropriate at this time, even though he had authored some of them, were <br /> those for the City of Rosemount as it applied to a specific set of circumstances <br /> with aggregate resources they wanted to protect through using the interim solar <br /> use, which had been very creative in that situation. Mr. Ross also recognized the <br /> Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul as they competed to see who could be the most <br /> welcoming to solar, making some choices that allowed for great flexibility in how <br /> the systems, mainly residential, are permitted. Mr. Ross noted that those cities <br /> decided not to apply design standards by exempting them from those <br /> requirements. Mr. Ross noted that the ordinance also had an incentive built in to <br /> not allow installation of hideously ugly panels as had been installed in the past. <br /> Mr. Ross noted that those cities continuing to hedge on developing an ordinance <br /> were not seeing much development accordingly. Mr. Ross advised that one issue <br /> of concern he found was in the more restrictive design standards of homeowner <br /> associations compared to other residential properties. <br /> 6. GreenStep Inventory <br /> 7. Possible Items for Next Meeting—September 23, 2014 <br /> Page 14 of 15 <br />