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California Solar Energy Facility Permit Streamlining Guide
February 2012by: Tim Snellings, Jennifer BarrettThis guide is designed to help counties in California develop zoning regulations and permitting processes to streamline solar development. -
Solar Energy Financing Guide: Empowering Wisconsin Local Governments
April 2017by: Sherrie GruderThis guide is designed to help local governments in Wisconsin understand financing options for solar development. -
Local Government Project Portal: Goal-Setting Guidance
August 2018This guide is designed to help cities and counties set goals for producing or using renewable energy, including solar energy. -
Solar+Storage for Low- and Moderate-Income Communities: A Guide for States and Municipalities
March 2017by: Todd Olinsky-PaulThis guide is designed to help states and local governments analyze opportunities to support solar development with battery storage for the benefit of low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities. -
Standards and Requirements for Solar Equipment, Installation, and Licensing and Certification: A Guide for States and Municipalities
February 2017by: Ben Inskeep, Beren ArgetsingerThis guide is designed to help states and local governments develop and revise technical standards and requirements to meet solar development goals. -
Rhode Island Renewable Energy Guidelines: Solar Energy Systems Model Ordinance Templates Zoning and Taxation
February 2019by: Nancy Hess, Paul Gonsalves, Christopher KearnsThis model presents templates to help municipalities in Rhode Island adopt zoning and taxation regulations to support solar development. -
NCTCOG, TX, Model Ordinance Guidelines for Municipalities
July 2016This model provides a general framework to help cities in metropolitan Dallas-Fort Worth adopt solar development regulations. -
The Guide to Developing Solar Photovoltaics at Massachusetts Landfills
August 2016This guide is designed to help local governments in Massachusetts develop solar projects on landfills. -
The Northwest Community Solar Guide
May 2013This guide is designed to help local governments and other stakeholders support or develop community solar projects. -
Policies to Support Wind Power Deployment: Key Considerations and Good Practices
NREL-TP-6A20-64177, May 2015by: Sadie Cox, Suzanne Tegen, Ian Baring-GouldThis report identifies several policies at various governmental scales which support wind energy development. -
Small Scale Wind Power for Homes, Farms and Communities
July 2012This fact sheet provides an overview of the uses and utility of small wind turbines for distributed generation. -
Community Wind Benefits
DOE/GO-102012-3785, November 2012This fact sheet provides an overview of community wind projects. -
Wind Energy Permit Toolkit
September 2015This guide provides municipalities and counties with resources for planning and regulating wind energy projects. -
Siting Wind Energy Facilities: What Do Local Elected Officials Need to Know?
February 2013by: James McElfish, Judith AmsalemThis guide provides local officials with an overview of wind energy in the United States and discusses siting concerns often addressed in local wind ordinances. -
Integrating Tiny and Small Homes into the Urban Landscape: History, Land Use Barriers and Potential Solutions
Journal of Geography and Regional Planning, 11(3): 33-45, 2018by: Krista EvansThis article analyzes how interest in tiny houses has changed over time and summarizes common regulatory barriers and potential solutions to tiny house development or occupancy. -
DSIRE: Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency
Updated 2019This clearinghouse provides summaries and access to local, state, and national renewable energy policies, programs, and ordinances. -
American Wind Wildlife Institute Information Center
Updated 2019This clearinghouse compiles over 1200 documents, reports, gray literature, studies, and peer-reviewed research, on wildlife interactions with wind energy facilities. -
Wind-Wildlife Impacts Literature Database
Updated January 2019This clearinghouse contains a sortable collection of resources regarding the wildlife impacts of various renewable energy technologies. -
WINDExchange Wind Energy Policies and Incentives: Ordinances Database
Updated May 2019This clearinghouse contains over 500 municipal and county wind energy ordinances. -
Wind Library
Updated 2015This clearinghouse contains guides and resources for planning and permitting wind energy. -
North Carolina Wind Energy: Resources
Updated 2019This clearinghouse contains a sortable collection of wind energy resources. -
Tethys Knowledge Base: Wind Energy Content
Updated 2019This clearinghouse contains wind energy resources sortable by resource type, technology type, receptor, and stressor. -
Environmental Impacts of Wind-Energy Projects
2007This report is a case study on the environmental effects of wind turbines in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia. -
The Law of Wind: A Guide to Business and Legal Issues (8th Ed.)
February 2018This report provides legal background on multiple aspects of wind energy development. -
2017 State of Wind Development in the United States by Region
NREL/TP-5000-70738, April 2018by: Frank Oteri, Ian Baring-Gould, Suzanne TegenThis report provides an overview of wind energy development in the United States. -
Wind Energy Finance in the United States: Current Practice and Opportunities
NREL/TP-6A20-68227, August 2017by: Paul Schwabe, David Feldman, Jason FieldsThis report provides background on wind energy project finance. -
Sustainable Energy in America Factbook
2018by: Rachel Luo, Colleen Regan, Ethan ZindlerThis report highlights deployment, financing, and economic trends in “sustainable energy” sectors, including wind and solar. -
An Initial Evaluation of Siting Considerations on Current and Future Wind Deployment
NREL/TP-5000-61750, July 2016by: Suzanne Tegan, Eris Lantz, Thrieu MaiThis report explores the relationship between siting considerations – human and wildlife – and wind energy project costs and future site suitability. -
Wind Energy Permitting in North Carolina and Six Other States: A Comparative Analysis
UNC-SG-16-11, May 2016by: James King, Lisa Schiavinato, Ethan CaseThis report compares wind energy regulations and policies in seven states. -
Clean Energy in City Codes: A Baseline Analysis of Municipal Codification across the United States
NREL/TP-6A70-66120, December 2016by: Jeffrey Cook, Aleandra Aznar, Alexander DaneThis report surveys municipal renewable energy codification in the United States. -
State Enabling Legislation for Commercial-Scale Wind Power Siting and the Local Government Role
May 2011by: James McElfish, Sara GersenThis report discusses various structures of state and local authority over large, commercial-scale wind energy developments. -
Put It There! — Wind Energy & Wind Park Siting and Zoning Best Practices and Guidance for States
January 2012by: Tom Stanton, Deborah LuyoThis report provides an overview of local and state wind energy siting, permitting, and zoning considerations, and summarizes every states authority over wind energy siting and zoning. -
Forecasting Wind Energy Costs & Cost Drivers: The Views of the World’s Leading Experts
LBNL-1005717, June 2016by: Ryan Wiser, Karen Jenni, Joachim SteelThis report presents the results of a survey of wind energy experts with predictions for future trends in pricing, development, and scale. -
Wind and Solar Production and the Sustainable Development Code
January 2008by: Erica Heller, AICPThis report summarizes wind and solar power technologies, policies, development potential, and local land-use regulations. -
Overview of Existing Wind Energy Ordinances
NREL/TP-500-44439, December 2008by: F. OteriThis report summarizes 25 rural wind energy ordinances. -
Community Wind 101: A Primer for Policymakers
September 2008by: Patrick MazzaThis report provides an overview of community wind energy systems. -
Small Wind Energy Policy Making in the States: Lessons for a Shifting Energy Landscape
Policy Summary Series #JW2009, September 2009by: Joshua Wiener, Tomas KoontzThis report provides an overview of state policies to support distributed, small-scale wind energy. -
Primer for Addressing Wind Turbine Noise
October 2006by: Daniel AlbertsThis report provides background on wind energy noise, its impacts, and its regulation. -
Spatial Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis Tool Suite for Consensus-Based Siting of Renewable Energy Structures
Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management, 20(3): 1840003-1 – 1840003-28, 2008by: Frank Hanssen, Roel May, Jiska van DijkThis article discusses a pre-development decision-making tool with applications for wind energy project siting. -
The Key to Unlocking the Power of Small Scale Renewable Energy: Local Land Use Regulations
Journal of Land Use & Environmental Law, 27(2): 339-367, 2012by: Patricia SalkinThis article discusses methods to support small-scale wind and solar projects through local land use regulations. -
Zoning for Sustainability: A Review and Analysis of the Zoning Ordinances of 32 Cities in the United States
Journal of the American Planning Association, 80(3): 239-252, 2014by: Edward Jepson, AICP, Anna HainesThis article examines how municipalities incorporate sustainability principles into local zoning regulations. -
Community Wind: A Review of Select State and Federal Policy Incentives
August 2006by: Jessica Shoemaker, Christy BrekkenThis report provides an overview of community wind, its regulation, and state and national policies. -
The Predominance of Economic Development in the Support for Large-Scale Wind Farms in the U.S. Great Plains
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 16(1): 3690-3701, 2012by: Michael Slattery, Becky Johnson, Jefferey SwoffordThis article explores public perceptions toward large-scale wind energy conversion systems -
Zoning for Distributed Wind Power: Breaking Down Barriers
NREL/CP-500-38167, August 2005by: Jim Green, Mark SagrilloThis report discusses local zoning and its preemption for small wind energy conversion systems. -
Zoned Out: An Analysis of Wind Energy Zoning in Four Midwest States
December 2014by: Alissa DoerrThis article discusses various models for delegating state and local wind energy zoning control. -
Sucking the Air out of Wind Energy: Nuisance Litigation and Its Effect on Wind Energy Development
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_lawreview/vol88/iss3/4/by: Ryan KusminThis article provides an overview of nuisance litigation against wind energy projects, its effects on wind energy development, and proposes a state-level model to mitigate these effects. -
Headwinds to a Clean Energy Future: Nuisance Suits against Wind Energy Projects in the United States
California Law Review, 97(5): 1337-1376, 2009by: Stephen ButlerThis article provides an overview of nuisance litigation against wind turbines and two case Law examples. -
On-Shore Wind Zoning Guidelines
2011This fact sheet provides Michigan jurisdictions with background on state regulatory authority regarding large, commercial wind projects and local zoning for these systems. -
Considerations for Municipalities Considering Wind Projects
Fall 2013This fact sheet highlights useful information and resources for Massachusetts communities interested in wind energy development. -
Forecasting Wind Energy Costs and Cost Drivers: What Do the Experts Say?
September 2016This recorded webinar summarizes research on predicted future wind energy project cost drivers based on a survey of 163 global “wind energy experts.”