Border Town Removes Licensing Barrier to Encourage Solar

Brownsville, Texas is a low-income city with a lot of sunshine. Regulators there are hoping to spark solar energy by streamlining regulation. Zoning and Subdivision Supervisor Francesca Linder hopes to get residential and commercial projects interested in using solar. "To facilitate the installation of solar systems in Brownsville, Linder explains, construction permits are still required for new projects, but the solar systems themselves will not require an extra permit," Zoe Sullivan reports for Next City.

The Department of Energy designated Brownsville one of its SolSmart Cities. "The program provides technical assistance for local governments to help them make it faster, easier, and more affordable to adopt solar energy solutions. Brownsville was designated a SolSmart 'Silver City' because of its efforts to reduce obstacles for solar energy," Sullivan writes.