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.

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Shopping for Community Solar? Contract Terms Are Getting Friendlier

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

The law of unintended consequences keeps traipsing through the solar industry.

As broader tariffs begin to kick in on products ranging from solar modules to electronics equipment, the real-world consequences are beginning to interfere with product launches like Huawei’s launch of a low-cost residential solar inverter.

Huawei had been predicting its inverter would knock $100 to $200 off the typical price of a residential inverter, allowing it to compete with more well-known inverter companies. Instead, a 25% tariff on Chinese electronic equipment is going to completely wipe out that advantage and is already interfering in conversations with potential distributors.

Reuters explains Huawei’s dilemma:

Huawei will either have to reduce its margins or raise prices, they said, potentially benefiting rival producers including SolarEdge and Enphase Energy, which are ramping up manufacturing outside China.

The problem for Huawei is not unique to them, nor is it unexpected. When you start trade wars with countries without a coherent strategy (other than to punish countries you perceive to have “cheated” you), there are going to be unanticipated consequences. In this case, you’re hurting the residential solar industry by taking away a potential cost-saving piece of equipment that could have helped push residential solar sales higher.

Another analyst told Reuters:

A 25 percent tariff could eat up the margins of cost-competitive Chinese manufacturers and potentially change the player landscape of the U.S. solar inverter market.

Herein lies the central problem, however: Damaging Huawei’s product launch and keeping their technology out of the hands of U.S. consumers doesn’t accomplish the alleged goals of the tariffs, which is bringing well-paying jobs to U.S. citizens. The competitors of Huawei aren’t opening factories in the United States; their manufacturing facilities are outside the United States, too – they just don’t happen to be in the sanctioned country. So in essence, you’re doing exactly what you say government shouldn’t do – you’re interfering with the free market and picking winners and losers. And the U.S. consumer, unfortunately, is one of the biggest losers in this case.

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U.S. tariffs cast a cloud over Huawei’s solar electronics launch