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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Community Solar Policy Landscape and Pathways to Meaningful Benefits: A Review of Equitable Access and Household Savings

As of August 2024, community solar legislation and policies have been implemented in 24 U.S. states and localities, including the District of Columbia. These policies have driven significant growth in the community solar market. The states that have enacted legislation accounting for over 62.8% of the country's installed capacity. Community solar policy designs are evolving, with many states expanding programs, enhancing equitable access, and ensuring household savings.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Regulators’ Financial Toolbox: Designing Low- and Moderate- Income (LMI) Community Solar Compensation Programs

On February 9, 2022, as part of the NARUC Winter Policy Summit, five NARUC Staff Subcommittees (Energy Resources and the Environment, Rate Design, Electricity, Electric Reliability and Resilience, and Consumers and the Public Interest) co-hosted two sessions on community solar. The first panel was Community Solar I: Benefits for Low- and Moderate-Income Consumers, featuring opening remarks from moderator Hon. Eric Blank, Chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, and presentations from Richard Caperton, Vice President, Policy and Market Development, Arcadia, on behalf of the Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA); Chris Nichols, Senior Program Director, Groundswell; and Ted Trabue, Managing Director, DC Sustainable Energy Utility. See presentations and recordings. The second panel, titled What is Community Solar 2: Cost Impacts to Participants and Non-Participants, featured opening remarks from moderator Jamie Barber, Director of the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Unit at the Georgia Public Service Commission, and presentations from Dr. Gabriel Chan, Associate Professor, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota; Matthew McDonnell, Managing Director, Strategen Consulting; and Katie Chiles Ottenweller, Southeast Director, Vote Solar. See presentations and recordings.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

State Policies and Programs for Community Solar

The purpose of this dataset is to summarize current community solar policies and related stipulations by state in the United States. The dataset is updated multiple times per year. The current version is the first file located below. Previous versions of the dataset published before August of 2024 can be found in the dataset below labeled “ARCHIVE_State Policies and Programs for Community Solar_Before 08.24.“ This list has been reviewed, but errors may exist, and the list may not be comprehensive. NLR invites input to update or add to the database. Please submit updates, additions, and corrections to Jenna Harmon (Jenna.Harmon@nlr.gov) and Sonja Berdahl (sonja.berdahl@nlr.gov).

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Community Solar Consolidated Billing: An Exploration of Implementation and Alternatives

The report presents an analysis of the considerations, costs, and benefits surrounding the implementation of utility consolidated billing in community solar programs while also exploring alternatives to achieve similar benefits in its absence. Consolidated billing simplifies the billing process for customers by combining all charges and credits associated with electricity service and community solar subscriptions into a single bill. The potential benefits of consolidated billing implementation include increased transparency, improved customer experience, and ultimately increased retention rates and decreased subscriber acquisition costs. Currently, community solar subscribers often receive two separate bills - one from the utility and one from a third-party community solar provider - potentially causing confusion. Consolidated billing seeks to resolve this by offering a unified bill, which, while beneficial to numerous stakeholders, presents administrative, technical, and financial hurdles that utilities and program administrators must address.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Community Solar Program Design Considerations & Modeling Inputs

Designing and modeling a community solar (CS) program is a complex process with numerous variable inputs that are interconnected. Modeling a CS program can be useful to inform the programs design itself while also providing stakeholders of all types with information. Accurate data inputs and assumptions are key to ensuring that a model is informative and as representative of real market conditions as possible. This report is an exploration of community solar program modeling considerations, especially as it relates to data inputs such as capital costs, administrative fees, and subscription size, using a CS program in North Carolina as a case study.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Community Solar Consolidated Billing: An Exploration of Implementation and Alternatives [Slides]

This presentation is an abridged version of the report it is based on that presents an analysis of the considerations, costs, and benefits surrounding the implementation of utility consolidated billing in community solar programs while also exploring alternatives to achieve similar benefits in its absence. Consolidated billing simplifies the billing process for customers by combining all charges and credits associated with electricity service and community solar subscriptions into a single bill. The potential benefits of consolidated billing implementation include increased transparency, improved customer experience, and ultimately increased retention rates and decreased subscriber acquisition costs. Currently, community solar subscribers often receive two separate bills - one from the utility and one from a third-party community solar provider - potentially causing confusion. Consolidated billing seeks to resolve this by offering a unified bill, which, while beneficial to numerous stakeholders, presents administrative, technical, and financial hurdles that utilities and program administrators must address.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

DEPRECATED - State Policies and Programs for Community Solar (2022)

This data set is no longer current – The most current data and all historical data sets can be found at https://data.nlr.gov/submissions/249 The purpose of this dataset is to summarize current community solar policies and low-income stipulations by the state in the United States as of December 2022. The "State_Program" sheet summarizes the key policy details for each state. This dataset is associated with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) publication "Expanding Solar Access: State Community Solar Landscape (2022)." https://www.nlr.gov/docs/fy23osti/84247.pdf This list has been reviewed, but errors may exist, and the list may not be comprehensive. NREL invites input to update or add to the database. Please submit updates, additions, or corrections please find contact information on the current data set page linked above.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Community Solar Project Models: An Introduction to Basic Financial and Administrative Relationships [Slides]

This resource is a collection of visual aids and descriptions to help explain the basic financial and administrative relationships underpinning common community solar project models. The graphics in this resource depict the flow of electricity from generation to consumption and the financial exchanges between the community solar project owner, subscribers, and distribution utility. Community solar models vary based on ownership (e.g., third party, utility), customer type (e.g., multifamily, single-household), and solar array location (e.g., on-site, off-site).

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Overview of Community Solar Project Development [Slides]

The Energy to Communities (E2C) peer-learning cohort program provides technical assistance to groups of 15 community entities around a common energy topic over the course of 6 months. Every month, participants join a virtual meeting where they hear from experts and exchange strategies and best practices with their peers. This cohort, "Successful Energy Project Implementation" will explore common challenges in implementing energy projects and learn strategies to turn project plans into reality. Each participant will focus on a local energy project or priority as a cornerstone for their learning throughout the series. This presentation overviews the basics of developing community solar projects with emphasis on technical scope and ownership structures.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Community Solar Potential Analysis for Lawrence, Massachusetts

This report was prepared as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Communities Local Energy Action Program (Communities LEAP) pilot competitive technical assistance for the Lawrence Massachusetts Stakeholder Coalition (LSC). In accordance with Technical Assistance Area 1 (Community Solar Analysis) and in coordination with the LSC, the UMass Clean Energy Extension (CEE) research team conducted a high-level geographic information system (GIS) evaluation of potential community solar (CS) development sites within Lawrence, and its three bordering towns of Andover, North Andover, and Methuen.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Community Solar Resources for Multifamily Affordable Housing Providers [Slides]

As part of an initiative to support Multifamily Affordable Housing (MFAH) providers in their efforts to accelerate deployment of community solar, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s National Community Solar Partnership (NCSP) convened a group of MFAH providers from across the United States to understand and address barriers. DOE and project partners the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Urban Ingenuity, and Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future facilitated peer exchange, provided technical assistance, and developed resources to support the sector more broadly. During this one-hour webinar NREL, Urban Ingenuity, and SAHF introduced these resources. The webinar was attended by MFAH providers, state and local agencies, and others working to advance equitable access to solar for residents of affordable housing.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Community Solar Policy Screening Workbook for Multifamily Affordable Housing Building Portfolios

This workbook provides a framework to help Multifamily Affordable Housing (MFAH) housing providers evaluate state-level policy landscapes as they relate to MFAH community solar development. By exploring which programs and policies aid in the technical and economic feasibility of MFAH solar projects, building owners can gain an understanding of where in their portfolios to begin developing solar. This workbook also walks through the steps necessary for MFAH building owners to assess their portfolios using this framework. It was developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for the National Community Solar Partnership (NCSP) Multifamily Affordable Housing Collaborative. Learn more about the NCSP and the Collaborative at https://www.energy.gov/communitysolar/community-solar.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

DEPRECATED - Sharing the Sun Community Solar Project Data (December 2021)

This data set is no longer current – The most current data and all historical data sets can be found at https://data.nrel.gov/submissions/244 This database represents a list of community solar projects identified through various sources as of Dec 2021. The list has been reviewed but errors may exist and the list may not be comprehensive. Errors in the sources e.g. press releases may be duplicated in the list. Blank spaces represent missing information. NREL invites input to improve the database including to - correct erroneous information - add missing projects - fill in missing information - remove inactive projects. Updated information can be submitted to the contact(s) located on the current data set page linked at the top.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

National Community Solar Partnership Technical Assistance: Together New Orleans [Slides]

This product is the outcome of a National Community Solar Partnership (NCSP) Technical Assistance (TA) request. TA is provided to NCSP members at no cost and upon request. Some TA, this project included, is later generalized and published to help educate the broader community, share findings, and provide best practices. Together New Orleans submitted a TA request to the NCSP aiming to obtain a third-party analysis on several rate compensation structures that could make project development more financially advantageous.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗