Community Solar

Community solar offers the benefits of solar energy to homeowners whose sites are unsuited for solar installation and renters.
  • Working together, community leaders can partner with a power provider to create a large scale solar project in a well-suited central location nearby.
  • Individual customers can purchase a specified amount of output from that project that places a credit on their utility bill.
  • There are several ways to create this type of solar project, including through a utility, a third-party provider or a nonprofit.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratories have produced this guide to help explain community solar and help guide those who would like to develop a community solar project in their area:

Click here for a guide to Community Solar

Solarize

  • Several Georgia communities have embraced Solarize programs in recent years resulting in significant gains in rooftop solar:
    • 12 community-based programs
    • 1,000+ installations
    • 7.5+ MW of new solar capacity
  • Solarize allows a specific community to use bulk buying and other group purchasing cost reductions to reduce costs for on-site solar installation.
  • These programs also take the guesswork out of individual purchasing by prescreening installers.