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Canterbury signs up with Clean Energy NH SolSmart program for solar best practices; committee coordination planned
Summary
Select Board members discussed Canterbury’s enrollment in SolSmart, a federally funded program run by Clean Energy New Hampshire offering planning, zoning and permitting guidance for solar projects; staff will share program documents and the town will consider forming a task force with planning and inspection representatives.
At the meeting, a town volunteer reported that Clean Energy New Hampshire has enrolled Canterbury in SolSmart, a federal program that provides communities with best practices and technical assistance on planning, zoning and inspection processes for solar development.
Summary of the program: The presenter said SolSmart “is a program to help communities come to best practices in zoning and regulation, planning zoning and inspection processes for solar development, whether it's residential, commercial, whatever.” He emphasized there is no charge to the town other than staff time to review materials.
Why it matters: SolSmart offers model guidance on municipal policies and an optional consulting service for larger projects, which participants said could help the town advance community solar, commercial installations or future town-scale projects.
Next steps and coordination: Presenters said they had discussed the program with the planning board and that materials from SolSmart (including recordings of kickoff meetings) would be circulated to planning, community-power, energy and inspection personnel. The town will need to identify appropriate staff and committee representatives for a task force; the speaker asked the board to help identify “the best people to talk to to pull together all these different departments.”
Implementation notes: The presenter said SolSmart will review the town website and planning documents and feed back recommendations. The program offers an ongoing monthly working meeting and drop-in Zoom sessions. Participants said the SolSmart kickoff is recorded and will be shared with board and committee members.
Board direction: The Select Board asked staff to circulate SolSmart emails and materials via the town administrator (Cal) and to confirm availability of planning and building-inspection staff and committee members for next steps.
