Community Solar: What It Is and How It Works

It creates local jobs, increases city revenue, and brings electricity savings to households across the country. These collections of low-profile panels, shared amongst residents within a given utility’s service territory, are a way for the 90 million American households that can’t support rooftop panels to get involved. They fight climate change daily and support the drive for U.S. energy independence, all while empowering local economies. In a way, they’re like mini power plants. And on average, they help avoid 500 tons of CO2 emissions yearly, or half a million tons of coal.

They generate power much like residential systems, but rather than the clean energy going directly to one home, it’s funneled into the local electrical grid. Individuals subscribe to portions of the farm and receive credits on their utility bill based on the amount of energy produced by their share. Typically, solar gardens are located off-site and produce between 1 and 5 mW of clean energy. 

Community solar is collaboration at its finest; communities, landowners, utilities and developers all working together to save the world. These projects take the onus off the individuals and stretch the sun’s power to everyone. Should the size of your residential property or budget not allow a private system, community solar is waiting in the wings, ready to welcome you into a future-proof solution. 

Community solar farms are growing in popularity across the United States and in 2021, there was at least one community solar project in over 39 states.

Nexamp is a gentailer, meaning we generate all the clean power we then sell to utilities, businesses and municipalities. We’re a vertically integrated decarbonization company working with the sun to power the people. We manage, own and operate each project, and every stage that leads to your reduced electricity bill is our responsibility. We work with local landowners, agencies, and cooperatives to lease land for solar projects. While most states have passed legislation to formalize this process and establish regulations, some have not.

Interested homeowners, as well as commercial customers, can tap into this power with a simple Nexamp subscription. Depending on the state, either the electric utility company or a dedicated provider will handle the specifics. Participants are often allowed to subscribe to electricity generated (per kW or kWh), up to a maximum of 120% of their electricity usage.

When subscribing to a Nexamp solar farm, we allot you space based on your annual electricity usage. The amount of solar energy produced by your section translates into credits on your electricity bill. Nexamp bills you for these credits at a set discount after selling the farm’s total energy generation to local utilities. This act of teamworks cuts your monthly costs and supports the grid with clean, reliable power. In some states, subscribers will receive two separate bills, one from the utility detailing their energy usage, and another from Nexamp noting that month’s solar credit value. 

No installation, no extra costs, and no need to switch energy providers. Your power is coming from the same place!

Community solar brings the power to the people. We’re aimed at democratizing clean energy and have eliminated FICO scores, background checks, long-term contracts and up-front costs to do so, ensuring our projects are always open to all. With community solar programs spreading across the country, renters, low-and-moderate-income individuals, and homeowners alike are now able to harness the sun’s power and place it’s benefits directly in their pockets. 

The output and production of community solar farms or gardens is also generally more efficient than individually-owned panels. Solar farms/gardens are typically located on wide swaths of land, free from obstructions. These ideal conditions mean the panels can receive the maximum amount of sunlight more often.

Community solar farms/gardens also provide greater flexibility to subscribers as they’re off-site and centralized. People can still benefit from them when moving to a new house, as long as it’s within the same utility’s service coverage.  

Solar energy is taking over, whether oil kings like it or not. It’s far cheaper to produce, saves you money each month and expedites U.S. energy independence. Don’t wait for clean power to come to you. Bring light to your community and become a beacon of hope for our world. The future is only ours if we support it.