How does community solar work?

Community solar projects are typically developed on empty land or large rooftops near population centers. Developers build the solar installation and then sell "subscriptions" to nearby buildings and households.

The financial model works like this: The solar developer finances and builds the project, often capturing available tax incentives and state rebates. These incentives lower the overall cost of the installation. Those cost savings are passed to subscribers as lower electricity credits. Subscribers receive monthly credits on their electricity bills for their share of the generation.

Community solar is made financially viable by state and federal incentive programs that reduce development costs and utility-provided mechanisms that allow subscribers to receive bill credits for remotely-generated power.