City of Pensacola Receives Gold Designation from SolSmart for Advancing Solar Energy Growth

The City of Pensacola received a gold designation from the national SolSmart program for making it faster, easier and more affordable for homes and businesses to go solar. This designation recognizes the city for taking steps to encourage solar energy growth and removing obstacles to solar development. 

To receive designation, cities and counties make changes to their local processes to reduce the time and money it takes to install a solar energy system. This includes evaluating permitting processes, as well as planning and zoning procedures. 

"I'm incredibly proud to be recognized for our efforts to make solar energy more attainable in the City of Pensacola," Mayor Grover Robinson said. "Thank you to city staff for continuing to work hard on solar initiatives and for being forward-thinking as we look to the future of solar energy in Pensacola."

As a SolSmart designee, the city is helping solar companies greatly reduce the cost of installations and pass those savings on to consumers. This allows even more local homes and businesses to obtain affordable, clean and reliable electricity through solar. Actions the city has taken will help encourage solar companies to do business in the area, driving economic development and creating local jobs. 

SolSmart uses objective criteria to award communities points based on the actions they take to reduce barriers to solar energy development. Communities that take sufficient action are designated either gold, silver or bronze. More than 400 cities, counties and small towns have achieved SolSmart designation since the program launched in 2016.

SolSmart is led by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council and the International City/County Management Association. The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Energy Technologies Office. For more information about SolSmart designation, visit SolSmart.org.