By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
Community solar is a hot topic right now in the industry. It’s potential to expand solar’s reach to non-traditional solar customers – renters and people whose homes are not suited to individual solar arrays – is enormous, and as more states become solar friendly, community solar is one of the most frequent focuses of policymakers as they try to navigate a new solar world (see Illinois, for example).
And according to a new report from Ellen Emma Foehringer Merchant of Greentech Media, the way of doing business for community solar providers is finally changing to make it easier for consumers to join community solar projects.
Merchant describes the current problems with many current community solar arrangements:
Common contract terms put customers on the hook for cancellation fees or signup periods stretching into two decades. The lack of flexibility is generally a turnoff for customers, limiting signups from the 50 to 75 percent of U.S. consumers who can’t access traditional rooftop solar.
According to Merchant, however, that traditional business model is changing, thanks to innovative companies like Solstice (a primary focus of the article):
Solstice, a community solar organization focused on customer management, recently introduced a “no-risk” contract tied to a new 2.73-megawatt Delaware River Solar project in the Hudson Valley. The contract includes no cancellation fee and lasts just one year. Solstice called the release a “milestone in U.S. solar accessibility” and said the terms “allow renters to participate without fear of getting stuck with a contract that they can’t take with them if they move.” The project will serve 400 households after its estimated Q4 completion.
Merchant acknowledges the Solstice arrangement is still a rarity, but posits that as companies like Solstice begin to see higher subscription numbers, other companies will quickly decide to make their terms easier for customers.
Our view is that the current business model for community solar will change as it becomes more common, and that the current struggles are nothing more than the growing pains that accompany any new market opening up. At least we hope so – as the article notes, 50% to 75% of electrical consumers don’t have access to traditional customer-sited solar arrays. It would be a shame to leave that much of the market on the table when a fix like the one Solstice is proposing is right there in front of us.
More:
Shopping for Community Solar? Contract Terms Are Getting Friendlier