| What is community solar? Community solar is designed to bring solar power to people who don't own their own homes or can't install panels — often at prices below retail electricity rates. Projects exist in most states with enough capacity, about 2 megawatts on average, to power about 200 to 400 homes. These might be on a condo roof or on open land like the 10-MW Fresno community solar farm, on a city-owned plot surrounded by agricultural land. How does it work? If there are projects in your area, you can subscribe to electricity generated by a certain share of solar panels. Customers can match some or all of their average monthly electricity usage. The electrons that ultimately flow into your home aren't necessarily from your solar panel. They are mixed into the local grid, which then transmits them to customers throughout your service area. Subscribers on average save about 10 percent on their utility bill — the range is 5 percent to 15 percent, estimates EnergySage, a renewable energy marketplace. Is it a good deal for everyone? Clean electricity for less money seems a bit too good to be true. But it reflects a new reality: Solar energy prices are falling as an influx of private and public money, and new laws, are fueling a massive expansion of small-scale community solar projects. If you're a homeowner, community solar won't maximize your savings. Rooftop solar arrays can save homeowners more than $1,000 annually. On average, savings from community solar amount to about $100 per year for the typical ratepayer. But community solar brings other advantages. It's a subscription you can walk away from at any time with no upfront investment. And your discount off prevailing electric rates is locked in for as long as you subscribe. Residential electricity rates, meanwhile, have jumped 17 percent since 2018. The biggest benefit may be expanding access to clean energy to the roughly half of U.S. consumers and businesses that cannot install their own solar panels. How can I buy a subscription? Finding a subscription to a community solar project can feel like trying to score Taylor Swift tickets: They're on sale, but only a lucky few can buy them. To learn more about how to plug into community solar, read my column. Did you know I read all your emails? Be part of the Climate Coach community. Write with what you'd like to see in this newsletter: climatecoach@washpost.com. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here to get The Climate Coach newsletter in your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday. See you on Thursday, Michael Coren, Climate Coach | 
No comments:
Post a Comment