As more people seek to save money and improve the environment, efforts for implementing alternative energy resources have increased.
Solar power is the most popular form of clean and renewable energy for environmentally-conscious homeowners. Unfortunately, harnessing solar energy through panels isn’t possible for every resident.
Community solar strives to remedy this disadvantage by providing inexpensive access to solar power.
If you’re interested in community solar, understand the concept and analyze the benefits to discover viable reasons for switching your home’s power source today.
What is Community Solar?
Community solar refers to a group of people sharing electricity generated by harnessing solar energy. Other names for community solar projects include shared solar, energy sharing, or solar farms and gardens.
Establishing and utilizing community solar projects is a simple process.
Solar panels are installed at a site in your area. Depending on the project size, numerous members within your community are able to subscribe to a single community solar service.
Solar energy is then converted into usable electricity at a solar farm and delivered to the local power grid. Electricity continues to be distributed to your home by the utility company; however, solar credits are added to your account due to your community solar membership, effectively lowering your utility bill.
Enrolling in a community solar service is as simple as locating a project in your area and officially registering to receive instant solar power for your home.
Shared solar is an increasingly popular alternative to traditional methods. Evaluate the advantages of switching to community solar to understand if it’s the ideal decision for you, your home, and the environment.
Earn Instant Savings
A primary reason for choosing community solar is earning instant savings.
Electricity is a major monthly expense. It’s required for regulating temperature, operating appliances, and powering lights within your home. With more people than ever working remotely, electric bills are continuing to rise at an alarming rate.
Community solar is able to reduce electric expenses by harnessing free energy from the sun. On average, joining a shared solar project will provide a 10% discount on your next utility bill.
Choosing community solar is a cost-effective alternative for your home’s energy supply for a myriad of reasons.
Installation Costs
Purchasing and installing solar panels is a pricey process, which discourages many people from switching to solar power. An average solar panel system can range from $10-15,000 for installation, making it impractical for many residents.
Community solar projects eliminate this disadvantage by covering the initial investment for you.
An established community solar service doesn’t require members to pay upfront costs or fees for equipment and panels. Rather, you simply subscribe to a project and reap the amazing benefits.
Billing Process
Community solar will lower your electric costs, so it’s important to understand the billing process.
You’ll continue to receive an electric bill from your utility company. As a member of a community solar project, your share of solar energy will appear as credits on your bill. The amount of credits you earn will be subtracted from your electric expenses to limit your overall charges.
The more electricity produced through the solar panels, the more credits you’ll earn, which will further decrease your electric bill.
Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
Solar energy is insanely beneficial for reducing your carbon footprint.Yes, you can switch to LED lightbulbs to reduce your carbon footprint and do your part because no act is too big or too small to help the environment, but switching to community solar is going to really make a difference.
Environmental benefits of community solar projects include:
- Harnessing clean, renewable energy from the sun to convert into electricity
- Eliminating the toxic chemicals released when generating electricity, specifically traditional fossil fuels
- Avoiding contaminating the water, polluting the air, or emitting greenhouse gases
Joining a community solar project is a small change you can make to drastically improve the planet and limit your home’s negative environmental impact.
Increased Accessibility
Shared solar initiatives are becoming increasingly accessible to more residents.
According to recent market research performed by the U.S. Department of Energy, at least one community solar project is available in 39 of the states. Additionally, 20 states possess policies supporting and encouraging shared solar efforts.
The increasing number of states participating in community solar projects makes it an available choice for numerous communities to easily choose cleaner and less expensive energy.
Program Types
Community solar is more widely accessible due to the various program types and designs that anyone can own or operate.
There are three primary community solar models, and each option allows customers to voluntarily participate in the project. Utility-sponsored models are owned by the utility company, special purpose entity models are developed by individuals that decide to create a business enterprise, and lastly, non-profit models are operated by non-profit organizations.
Research community solar opportunities in your area to discover the types of programs available.
Community solar is a cost-effective, environmentally-friendly, and widely-accessible alternative to traditional electricity. If you’re interested in switching to solar power, consider the numerous benefits of joining a community solar project to power your home.