The Inflation Reduction Act includes money to help develop subscription-based solar programs.
By Dan Gearino, Inside Climate News
On a farm field east of Faribault, Minnesota, a 1.3-megawatt solar array provides electricity to serve about 180 subscribers.
The project, which occupies about six acres, is an example of community solar—also called “shared solar” or “solar gardens”—a kind of development in which subscribers receive credits on their monthly utility bills for the solar electricity produced.
Community solar is poised to become much more common thanks to a new $7 billion fund tied to the Inflation Reduction Act. The EPA began the process of setting up the fund last week.
I’ve found that one of the biggest challenges in writing about community solar is explaining what it is, so I turned to Maria McCoy, a researcher for the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a nonprofit that closely tracks the programs.
“Community solar is meant to be an option for folks who can’t put solar on their own roofs, whether they don’t own a home or have the financial ability to put solar up there or have a lot of shady trees,” she said.
Related:
Community Solar: The Basics
New law aims to increase DE’s lagging number of community solar installations
EDP Renewables awarded 13th New York community solar project
250 Homes In Bergen, Hudson County, NJ To Be Powered By Community Solar
The large majority of subscribers and projects are in six states: Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, and New York. About 20 states have active programs and many of the rest have rules that limit the ability of developers to do subscription-based projects.
Community solar has its origins in ideas about democratizing access to clean energy, which has translated into laws mostly in blue states.
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