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Solar developers are well aware of the energy it takes to win the uphill, sometimes prolonged battle of project approval. Is education the answer? And which strategy works the best?
Community engagement via telephone land line is a thing of the past; Dynamic Online Sampling on social media is the method of today. Tyler Duvelius is Director of External Affairs at Conservative Energy Network. Jon Carson is a lead solar developer with Trajectory Energy. Robin Pressman is Head of Embold Research. Mike Casey is the President of Tigercomm.
Today on Clean Power Hour, we have a team of experts and advocates from diverse fields within the solar industry: Robin is conducting the research, Tyler is advocating on the ground in the communities long-term, and Jon and Mike are managing installs and slowly chipping away at getting solar into rural America.
Together, this team offers evidence-based methods to get projects off the ground in a timely and affordable way. Listen in for easy, low or cost-free resources for developers to ease the process of project approval.
Key Takeaways
How utility-scale developers tend to under-communicate with the public at the most important moment
Two key metrics that were shown to significantly increase public acceptance of a project
Three ways developers could streamline project approval with local officials, businesses and the public
Why community perception is still the worst bottleneck of recent times
Why Embold’s proprietary research and sampling methods are so integral in the effort to understand community mindset
Key results from Embold’s comprehensive research study into public opinion of solar
Why investing in the early stages of a project can save time and hassle come permit time
Why staying involved locally past project completion will help in landing future work
How the Conservative Energy Network’s Land and Liberty project aims to stick around and continue community engagement well after the project is completed
Why explicitly stating where project revenue will go, e.g., high school renovations, is essential
Locations in the US where new projects tend to be sited
Why never letting the loudest voice win the argument is sage advice to follow
