Guest Article by EnergySage
While home solar is one of the most impactful ways to save money on electric bills and reduce carbon emissions, you can now take many different routes to go solar. In this article, we’ll explain how community solar empowers those unable to take advantage of rooftop solar to experience solar’s financial and environmental benefits without purchasing or installing anything on their property.
What is community solar?
Community solar, also known as shared solar or solar farms, brings the benefits of solar to renters, those without solar-suitable properties, and anyone else unable to install home solar. It works like this:
- A large-scale solar array (like the ones you might see along the highway) is developed within a certain utility area, typically by a private company.
- Once the project is live, it transfers solar energy to the local utility grid.
- Anyone in the service area of the cooperating utility can purchase a portion of the power produced, usually through a subscription, and receive a discount on their electricity bills.
- You can save 5-20% annually on your electric bills by subscribing to a community solar plan while supporting local, renewable energy without installing anything on your property and paying little to no upfront costs.
Unlike home solar, community solar subscribers don’t directly receive solar electricity from the community solar farm. Instead, the solar farm disperses energy to the entire electric grid, lowering the community’s reliance on fossil fuels. As a subscriber, you’ll continue to receive the same level of service from your utility company while being compensated for the power generated by your portion of the community solar farm through bill credits. You’ll often receive a separate bill from your community solar company, but ultimately, you can expect to save 5-20% on electricity costs every year.
Importantly, solar generation fluctuates with the seasons, meaning you’ll likely receive more bill credits in the summer than in the winter. These seasonal variations, combined with an additional bill to account for every month, can make the community solar billing process feel confusing. Below is a detailed breakdown of a typical bill to further illustrate how you save with community solar:
Source: EnergySage
Benefits of community solar
Community solar is a win-win: you contribute to a cleaner local environment while saving money on your electricity costs – without the commitment and investment of a home solar panel system. Here are some of the benefits of community solar:
- You don’t need to be a homeowner
Home-based solar is a great way to save money on electricity and support clean energy development, but it’s not accessible to everyone. Community solar allows renters, HOA members, and virtually any other utility customer to participate.
- You can save 5-20% annually on your electric bills
As electricity prices continue to rise, community solar allows subscribers to cut costs without sacrificing energy use. With little to no upfront fees, your savings start right away.
- Joining (and canceling) is easy
Joining a community solar project takes minutes since you don’t need to worry about installing anything. Additionally, only some projects require a long-term commitment. If you move or no longer want to participate, you can often cancel without facing a penalty.
- Community solar supports clean energy and creates local jobs
Community solar projects stimulate the local economy and improve the local environment. They are almost always built within the utility area they service and employ local community members to develop and maintain them.
Learn more about the benefits of community solar.
Low–to-moderate-income (LMI) community solar
Between the electric bill savings and little-to-no upfront investment required, community solar can help ease electricity burdens. In addition to standard community solar offerings, low-to-moderate-income (LMI) community solar programs specifically aim to expand access to LMI households. Common LMI programs include income-based incentives, low-income solar carve-outs, and government-run programs. In Massachusetts, the SMART program provides incentives to support the development of LMI community solar programs.
Learn more about LMI community solar.
Community solar vs. CCA programs
Community solar and community choice aggregations (CCAs) allow participants to support renewable energy without installing a solar panel system, but these programs are not synonymous. While individual utility customers can sign up for community solar, local governments participate in CCAs. Through CCAs, cities can purchase energy from specific sources for their electricity customers. It’s common for communities to use CCA plans to help reach clean energy targets, but these programs are not limited to clean energy sources. See if your MA city or town has a CCA (also called “municipal aggregation” plan.)
Learn more about alternative electricity options.
Compare community solar options on EnergySage
Solar farms are different from project to project, so choosing the one that makes the most sense for your household is essential. The EnergySage Community Solar Marketplace provides side-by-side comparisons of open projects near you so you can enroll with confidence. Don’t see any available projects in your area? Sign up on EnergySage to receive updates as new solar farms go live!
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