Solar for All

Solar is great (obviously), but the traditional panels-on-your roof model simply doesn’t work for everyone. For example, several studies estimate that as few as 25% of residential buildings in the U.S. are suitable for hosting a solar energy system. That leaves a huge portion of our nation’s solar opportunity on the table.

What if you rent in a multi-tenant apartment building? What if your roof is shaded? What if you own two pieces of property and want to use the solar production from one to meet your energy needs on the other?

Innovative policy models can empower new members of the community to tap the sun for their electricity needs. Learn more about how community programs can make solar energy more accessible to more Americans:

Ready to dive deeper? Visit our Community Solar Toolkit

Recognizing that community solar programs are evolving into various shapes and flavors across the country, model policies should achieve two key principles:

1. Participants in a community solar program should have an experience that is as similar as possible to that of customers investing in on-site renewable energy.
2. Community solar programs should be additive to successful on-site renewable energy program, creating more overall opportunity for participation in the solar economy rather than taking resources from other programs serving another type of customer.

With tremendous input from our partners at IREC, Vote Solar has put together a toolkit with model rules and case studies to local policymakers achieve those principles through effective program design.