Why lawmakers want to bring ‘community solar’ to Pennsylvania

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In Pennsylvania, more solar panels are installed on the roofs of homes and in utility-scale solar farms each year.

But an increasingly popular third model — which boosters say “democratizes” solar energy — has yet to get off the ground.

At least 24 states, including Delaware and New Jersey, have passed legislation enabling a type of solar energy development known as community solar. For years, state lawmakers have tried unsuccessfully to add Pennsylvania to this list. With more federal incentives available for solar development through Biden’s 2022 climate bill, proponents say now is the time.

“I don’t want this money to just go to large industry that is looking to do solar,” said state Rep. Peter Schweyer (D-Allentown).  “I want to make sure everybody gets at least a bite of the apple.”

What is community solar?

While traditional residential rooftop solar is owned or leased by a single household, electricity from a community solar project is shared by several customers, known as subscribers.

“Community solar allows them to pool their money together and invest in a solar system, normally on a parking structure, empty lot — anywhere really that’s available,” said Moises Morales, who supervised the installation of community solar projects in Washington, D.C. and now works as lead instructor at solar installation and training company Solar States in Philly. “It allows them to buy in and then share the benefits.”

A community solar installation does not need to be located right where its subscribers live.

“The power [subscribers use] is always going to come from the grid,” Morales said. “The system that gets installed is feeding the power into the grid and it just goes where it’s needed. The grid doesn’t know what’s renewable and what’s not. … You’re just kind of feeding the power back into the grid and offsetting what you’re using.”

Community solar installations can be owned by a group of neighbors, a church or other nonprofit, a third-party solar development company, or a utility. Electricity generated by the installation enters the grid, and subscribers to the project receive a credit on their electricity bills proportional to the share of the project they lease or own.

“You pay an annual subscription fee and the cost of the power from that project shows up on your utility bill,” said Emily Schapira, president of the Philadelphia Energy Authority. The quasi-governmental authority runs Solarize Philly — a discount program that offers leasing options for rooftop solar in Philly.

Community solar capitalizes on economies of scale, Schapira said.

“It’s cheaper to install a larger scale solar project per kilowatt than it would be for your own roof,” she said.