What Is Community Solar?

Community solar decouples going solar from owning a roof. Subscribers — households, renters, small businesses — buy or lease a share of a mid-sized local project (typically 1-5 MW) and receive bill credits for their share of its output, usually saving 5-15% on electricity. The model depends on state enabling policy: New York, Minnesota, Illinois, and Massachusetts host the largest programs, while many states still lack the billing rules that make it possible.

Because projects are small and sited on marginal land, rooftops, or landfills, community solar tends to face less local opposition than utility-scale development — and 'community-scale' framing increasingly appears in county debates as an alternative that keeps benefits local.