Community Solar

Community Solar programs allow multiple individuals and/or businesses to benefit from solar projects without having to install solar panels on their own property. Participants in community solar, called “subscribers” receive a portion of the energy produced by the solar farm in the form of a monetary credit applied to their electric utility bill each month. 

• Offsite PV system owned by third-party with multiple subscribers.
• Subscribers receive monetary credits on their utility bill based on the generation from the PV system (not RECs).
• The size of the subscription is determined based on the availability of projects, local CS regulation, and the level of energy savings a company is looking to achieve.
• Anchor Tenants subscribe to the largest portion of the offtake (up to 40%).

Community solar is a great way to reduce electricity costs and have positive local environmental impact without the accessibility issues associated with onsite solar.

1. Customer determines if Community Solar is available in their area, and of interest to them.
2. Customer finds & contracts for a Community Solar Subscription.
3. Customer pays a fee to the subscriber organization (the company that manages the community solar system’s subscriptions). Paid either upfront or monthly.
4. The subscriber organization tells the utility company how much electricity the community solar share produces each month. Credit to an electric bill is then applied accordingly.
5. The credit value varies by state, and sometimes by utility company. Typically, it’s multiplied by the number of kilowatt- hours (kWh) the share of the community solar system generates.
6. In most cases, companies will receive two bills each month: one from the utility (which is now less) and one from the community solar organization for the subscription.