Dane County is the first county in the nation to receive a Platinum designation from the national SolSmart program to recognize its national leadership in encouraging the growth of clean, affordable solar energy at the local level. Dane County worked with SolSmart’s no-cost technical assistance team to adopt nationally recognized best practices that advance solar market growth.
Dane County’s SolSmart Platinum designation was a collaborative effort with four local municipalities — the villages of McFarland and Mount Horeb and the cities of Middleton and Sun Prairie — that joined forces with the Dane County Office of Energy & Climate Change and the Capital Area Regional Planning Commission. Together, these local governments are implementing a range of initiatives to simplify the process of installing solar arrays.
The Platinum designation also requires Dane County to post metrics on the quantity of solar installed in the county. Click here for details on local solar installations.
SolSmart is led by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council and the International City/County Management Association and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office.
SolSmart designees are now in 43 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. Any city, town, county, and regional organization is eligible to join the program. Interested communities can learn more at SolSmart.org.
