Community solar, a business model where multiple customers buy output from shared solar systems, has expanded solar access among multifamily housing occupants, renters, and low-income households. Policies to enable community solar could be expanded and benefits of access augmented through targeted measures to support community solar adoption in underserved communities.
Messages for policy
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Community solar expands solar access by eliminating barriers associated with rooftop solar adoption, especially for multifamily housing occupants and renters.
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Policy can augment the access benefits of community solar, such as by reserving community solar shares or providing adoption incentives for low-income households.
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Community solar does not yet achieve equitable access relative to the general population. Policymakers could identify and aim to resolve remaining barriers to community solar adoption in underserved communities.
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Alternative business models that enable shared adoption of clean energy technologies could support equitable clean energy access in other domains.
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Further Reading
Carley, S. & Konisky, D. M. The justice and equity implications of the clean energy transition. Nat. Energy 5, 569–577 (2020). This review summarizes equity challenges in the clean energy transition.
Haynes, B. Community Solar: Expanding Access and Safeguarding Low-income Families (National Consumer Law Center, 2024). Explores emerging issues with community solar as a measure to expand solar access.
Michaud, G. Perspectives on community solar policy adoption across the United States. Renew. Energy Focus 33, 1–15 (2020). This study explores challenges associated with enabling policies for community solar.
Welton, S. & Eisen, J. Clean energy justice: Charting an emerging agenda. Harv. Environ. Law Rev. 43, 307–371 (2019). This study explores how inequitable solar access could pose policy problems.
Acknowledgements
This material is based upon work supported by the US Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the Solar Energy Technologies Office award no. 38444 and contract no. DE-AC02-05CH11231 (E.O. and G.B.). This work was authored in part by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, operated by Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, for the US Department of Energy (DOE) under contract no. DE-AC36-08GO28308 (S.K. and J.S.). Funding was provided by the US Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office.
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O’Shaughnessy, E., Barbose, G., Kannan, S. et al. Community solar reaches adopters underserved by rooftop solar. Nat Energy 9, 926–927 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-024-01575-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-024-01575-x
