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15 Urb. Law. 637 (1983)
Solar Building Envelopes: A Zoning Approach for Protecting Residential Solar Access

handle is hein.journals/urban15 and id is 671 raw text is: Solar Building Envelopes: A Zoning Approach for Protecting Residential Solar Access* Howard R. Osofsky Associate, Pohoryles, Greenstein, Goldberg, Forester, Staton & Harris, Washington, D.C.; B.A., Rutgers University, 1973; M.S., Georgia Institute of Technology, 1978; J.D., Emory Law School, 1982. I. Introduction OF THE RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES, solar energy is believed to have the greatest potential for the largest number of states, yet if solar power is to play a major role in meeting our future energy needs, municipal attorneys, urban planners, and land developers will have to incorporate solar access protection into their regula- tions, comprehensive plans, and project designs. Solar envelope zoning is a promising comprehensive and innovative approach that local governments can use to guarantee solar access in residential areas. II. Access to the Sun The successful operation of any solar energy device depends on its access to sunlight. Gail Boyer Hayes pointed to the crux of the matter: Sunlight radiates, unobstructed, through 93 million miles of space. It is only in the final few hundred feet before it touches earth that its flow is impeded. Although the distance is short, the legal problems of guaranteeing everyone equitable access to this golden bounty are great. A solar energy collector's requirement for unimpaired solar energy is known as solar access, usually expressed in terms of the airspace through which the solar radiation travels. Any object which intrudes into this space will cast a shadow on the solar collector, and thus reduce the amount of radiant energy reaching the collector's surface. *The author wishes to thank Professor W. Traver Rountree, Jr., Emory Law School, and Jeffrey P. Fegan, AICP, for their invaluable advice and assistance in the preparation of this article. Jaime Henriquez's editing assistance is also gratefully acknowledged. 1. A. MILLER, G. HAYES & G. THOMPSON, SOLAR ACCESS AND LAND USE: STATE OF THE LAW 3 (1977).

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