Tag Archive for: communitysolar

The researchers said that at least 6GW of community solar is expected to come online in existing markets between 2023-27.

US community solar set to double in five years as the IRA creates optimism

US community solar deployment is expected to more than double over the next five years despite 2022 seeing a 16% decline year-on-year, as the sector is set to see benefits from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) taking hold.

According to a report from Wood Mackenzie and the Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA), 2022 saw 1.01GW of community solar installed across the US, a fall from 1.19GW in 2021.

Community solar is a description of relatively small-scale solar projects that serve local communities.

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Source: PV Tech

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The Coalition for Community Solar Access has 30GW vision for community solar in the US by 2030, which is almost 6x the 5.3GW installed now.

Community-solar industry shoots for 30GW by 2030

On Wednesday, a national coalition of companies and nonprofit groups announced a big vision for community solar in the U.S.: 30 gigawatts by 2030. That’s nearly six times the 5.3 gigawatts installed now.

The Coalition for Community Solar Access, which counts companies Arcadia and Con Edison and nonprofits Groundswell and Grid Alternatives among its members, made the announcement at the Community Solar Power Summit in San Diego.

Community solar puts renewable power within reach of those who can’t install solar panels on their roofs. Users can instead subscribe to a part of an offsite array, and in return for the energy their portion of the array produces, earn credits that save them money on their electric bills.

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Source: Canary Media

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Community-owned community solar provides an example of what a more equitable, decentralized clean energy transition could look like.

For energy transition equity, communities must run community solar

In 2021, the median income of a rooftop solar adapter was $110,000 a year. That same year, the U.S. median income was $63,000.

The gap is closing — in 2010, the median rooftop solar adapter made $138,000 compared to just under $50,000 for the median American — but it’s not closing fast enough to get enough solar to the people who need it most. Low-income families who need their bills cut fast, communities of color historically choked by ash and soot, people who don’t own their homes or who don’t have the cash to put panels on the roof are all left out of this transition. And it’s a lost opportunity during a climate crisis that demands we get as many renewables on the grid as fast as possible.

Not just community solar, but specifically community-owned community solar, provides an example of what a more equitable, decentralized clean energy transition could look like.

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Source: Utility Dive

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Disadvantaged communities are bearing the brunt of clean energy supply chain blockages. Many believe that IRA will help alleviate supply chain constraints.

Clean energy supply chain issues affect disadvantaged the most

Disadvantaged communities in many parts of the U.S. are bearing the brunt of clean energy supply chain blockages that range from materials to labor, according to environmental justice advocates and utility officials.

In marginalized communities, it is “substituting one kind of delay for another,” said Shelley Robbins, project director for the Clean Energy Group, based in Vermont. “If you can’t get something, the price goes up.”

Historically, renewable energy and electrification projects in underserved communities have been “way too expensive,” she said in a recent phone interview.

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Source: Utility Dive

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US community solar is projected to grow substantially and represents a means of expanding access to underserved communities

Drivers of community solar in the US

In the race to deploy terawatts of solar power capacity across the US as a means to achieve the country’s clean energy targets, an often neglected area of deployment is community solar. There is at present around 4GW of community solar deployed in the country but the potential market size is more than ten times that when accounting for the various project pipelines that currently exist. And the speed of deployment is increasing.

Last year saw 1,154MW of community solar deployed in the US, up 29% year-on-year. And experts have commentated on a ‘paradigm shift’ when it comes to how the technology is viewed, with simpler, streamlined business models emerging and increasing financier appetite coupled with greater consumer appreciation driving the sector forward.

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Source: PV Tech

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California's community solar program is designed to benefit customers, developers, workers and the overall power system at the same time.

California embraces a new approach to community solar

Community solar is a way to allow people who don’t have access to a roof that is suitable for solar panels to take part in the world of renewable energy. That includes renters, co-op and condo owners, and homeowners whose roof faces the wrong way or is shaded by trees.

Let’s be clear. As a general rule, utility companies take a dim view of rooftop solar, community solar, or any other idea that involves someone other than themselves generating electricity on their own. That’s why government policies are needed to diminish the power imbalance between utility companies and consumers.

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Source: Clean Technica

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Community solar project developers say more generous tax credits under the new climate law will help them make a big push using tax credits.

Community solar developers see sunny opportunity in tax credits

Low-income areas and communities of color have felt left on the sidelines as homeowners reaped the benefits of rooftop solar panels and electric vehicles helped along by federal and state tax credits.

But community solar project developers say more generous tax credits under the new climate law will help them make a big push into those communities, using tax credits that can run as high as 50% for renewable energy installations.

The increased credit means developers can expand outreach and education efforts, increase hiring, and leverage other Biden administration actions—including changes to federal energy assistance known as LIHEAP—to drive down energy costs for underserved communities, including those in subsidized housing.

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Source: Bloomberg Law

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California’s new program will go beyond conventional community-solar design by stipulating requirements to serve equity and just-transition goals

California is finally unlocking community solar for the masses

California leads the nation in rooftop solar installations by a long shot. But it has never managed to craft a viable community solar market for people who can’t put panels on their own roofs. That’s been a glaring oversight in a state where median home prices in major cities have soared above $1 million, pushing home ownership out of reach for millions of residents.

But a late-summer legislative breakthrough could unleash community solar statewide in the next couple of years. AB 2316 passed the legislature by a broad majority last week with widespread support from interest groups — not just solar developers, but also environmental justice organizations, consumer advocates, the homebuilding industry and utility workers. By learning from successes and shortcomings in other states’ community solar programs, California designed its version to benefit customers, developers, workers and the overall power system at the same time.

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Source: Canary Media

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The California State Legislature passed AB 2316 to create community renewable energy programs for Californians with low income.

California bill requiring utilities to create community solar programs reaches governor’s desk

The California State Legislature passed AB 2316 authored by Assemblymember Chris Ward (D-San Diego) to create community renewable energy programs, such as community solar + storage, to overcome clean energy access barriers impacting nearly half of Californians who rent or have low incomes while strengthening the state’s power grid.

This priority bill for a diverse coalition of supporters — including advocates for environmental justice, clean energy, ratepayers, home builders and commercial property — now heads to Governor Gavin Newsom who will have until September 30 to act on the measure.

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Source: Solar Power World

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The bill, AB 2316, establishes a state community renewable energy program making clean energy more accessible.

California assembly passes community renewable energy legislation

The California State Assembly passed a bill that will significantly expand community renewable energy in the state as well as increase grid reliability.

The bill, AB 2316, establishes a state community renewable energy program making clean energy more accessible, including to businesses regardless of whether they rent or own property. The law also includes energy storage requirements on community solar projects designed to increase grid reliability, which can help the state during power crunches as the result of high demand or natural events.

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Source: Environmental Leader

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