Community Solar Power With Power Purchase Agreements

Looking for a less expensive way to go solar?  You now have many options, including community solar power with power purchase agreements.

Time to consider community solar power? (image by Joanna 8555 on flickr)

Under some of these arrangements, you need not purchase or install pricey solar panels on your roof.  Instead, another entity will install and own the panels and you only pay for the solar electricity that is generated from them.  Its truly a win-win situation with the homeowner enjoying lower electricity bills without having to make a huge investment upfront.  The environment benefits too with reduced reliance on fossil-fuel based energy.  In fact, even your local utility has a stake in this when you help reduce demand on the grid at peak times.

Solar panel leases are a type of power purchase agreement that can be implemented on an individual basis.  But, to save even more, you might consider community solar power shared with your neighbors, or even just other citizens in your area.  Options vary from state to state, but here are a few of the most newsworthy approaches to community solar power.

In Colorado, we recently blogged about the new Community Solar Gardens Act that became effective in 2010.  The legislation allows groups of at least 10 subscribers to form an investor-owned utility, develop a solar electric system for the group and then share in the enjoyment of clean, solar electricity.

If the community solar garden sounds like too much work, you can join with your neighbors to tap into the Clean Energy Collective in Carbondale.  This entity designs and installs solar power systems for joint ownership by homeowners.  Using remote metering, residents can enjoy net metering credits on monthly utility bills, too.

Across the country in Massachusetts, another company called My Generation Energy, also designs and builds community solar power systems for groups of residents on Cape Code.  To date, two groups of residents have come together and formed limited liability corporations (LLCs) to benefit as a whole from the solar electricity generated.

Even without the help of a company that is devoted to building and maintaining a community solar system, some residents are taking it upon themselves!  In Maryland, 35 homeowners in the University Park community formed their own LLC to develop, own and operate a 22 kilowatt solar power system on top of a church.  With tax credits, the return on investment for these people will be a short 6 years.  Over the life of the system, participants expect an 8% annual return.

Do you know of any community solar power arrangements in your hometown?

Tags: community solar, power purchase agreements, residential solar, solar panels, solar power, solar power purchase agreement