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MINUTES OF THE <br /> ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION <br /> Monday,November 16,2020 <br /> 6:00 o'clock p.m. <br /> direct sunlight is defined as a practical difficulty. He noted the main reason this design was chosen is the <br /> City of Orono also does not allow ground mount solar, so one could argue that there is plenty of access to <br /> solar in the yard,however given that ground mount systems are not permitted, this roof top system is <br /> what they are left with. <br /> Libby asked a few questions as he has dealt with some of these designs and engineering on other <br /> properties outside of Orono. He asked if this is really oriented to be southwest facing, so as the winter <br /> sun zenith drops to the horizon the Applicant will still be able to gather as much sunlight as possible. <br /> Mr. Buechel replied that is correct. <br /> Libby asked if they are incorporating battery backup with this and are able to store any of this energy and <br /> use post sunset. <br /> Mr. Buechel said he believes they are not doing any sort of backup system. <br /> Libby asked if they are integrating the energy that is gathered there into the primary structure, or is this <br /> just solely for the secondary outbuilding. <br /> Mr. Buechel noted this will be tied in and the homeowner will be able to offset their electricity use on <br /> their residence. <br /> Bollis noted this will be a trend that will continue and he is curious as far as clients in other cities,if this <br /> is a pretty common ordinance. <br /> Mr. Buechel said there are some other jurisdictions that allow for the coverage; numbers he has seen are <br /> more in the 80%range,rather than 70%. Typically, that is on the actual residence,not necessarily the <br /> accessory structures. There are not many that have the coverage limitation and if they did it was usually <br /> before;the current building code now incorporates access pathways for firemen to get on the roof and still <br /> have access to put out fires. With the new building code being enforced in April of 2020, some of those <br /> type of preventative methods for safety and is probably part of what this coverage limitation was used to <br /> address,and has now been taken into consideration in the current building code. <br /> Erickson asked if they contemplate removing or trimming any trees in order to gain better solar access. <br /> Mr. Buechel does not believe so. <br /> Kirchner noted it had been said that 83.2%of coverage is required to obtain this aesthetic look of the <br /> squared off panels;would it be possible, obviously not at 70%,but to go less than that to obtain a squared <br /> off visual appearance. <br /> Mr. Buechel replied he may have misspoken. Right now it is a nice, cohesive design,but that number of <br /> panels is designed perfectly to offset 100%of their electricity usage, and that is the rationale behind the <br /> design. He noted he was more-so speaking on if they remove panels,they lose that design. <br /> Kirchner clarified the primary purpose of this design as well as the subsequent variance request is to <br /> accommodate the power required at the primary residence and to offset that. <br /> Page 2 of 23 <br />