Community solar is a less well-known but increasingly important option for deploying solar energy, particularly in densely populated urban areas where rooftop space is often shared by multiple tenants.
Community solar is consumer-owned power generation with a twist.
Instead of being owned by a utility, corporation or government, the ownership of these systems is shared by subscribers. Each subscriber gets credit for the generation produced equal to their percentage of ownership in the project. Shares can range from a single solar panel to a majority of the installation, but usually the largest share is less than 50 percent of the total project.
Community solar allows customers to benefit from consumer-owned solar that wouldn’t otherwise have access to it, including renters, homes with shaded roofs, and residents who can’t or don’t want to put solar on their own roof.
Community solar projects also make it viable for warehouses and other facilities with a lot of roof space and low energy usage. The host roof site can meet its own energy needs with a small share of the system and offset costs by leasing its roof space.
Community solar installations are medium to large-scale solar systems, generally up to 5 megawatts in size.
Currently, community solar is primarily available in states in the Northeast and West Coast, but there are several other states where it has been successful, including Minnesota and Colorado. As a result, there is increasing pressure for other states to pass legislation supporting community solar.
Community solar has long had support from Democrats but has increasingly gained bipartisan support, as well, including in Wisconsin where legislators are considering enabling legislation. At least 19 states and the District of Columbia have recognized the benefits of community solar with policies to encourage their growth.
The Solar industry trade association SEIA says that 3.1 gigawatts of community solar has been installed as of April.