Community solar

A community solar project, farm or garden is a solar power installation that accepts capital from and provides output credit and tax benefits to multiple customers, including individuals, businesses, nonprofits, and other investors. Participants typically invest in or subscribe to a certain kW capacity or kWh generation of remote electrical production. The project's power output is credited to investors or subscribers in proportion to their investment, with adjustments to reflect ongoing changes in capacity, technology, costs and electricity rates. Community solar benefits renters, homeowners, and business owners who don’t own their own homes, don’t have a suitable roof orientation for solar, or who can’t afford the upfront costs of solar. Community solar provides direct access to the renewable energy to customers who cannot install it themselves. Participation in community solar programs can lead to significant savings on electricity bills for low- to moderate-income (LMI) households. For instance, some programs have reported families' annual savings of around $400 on their electricity bills. Companies, cooperatives, governments or non-profits operate the systems.