Community Solar Tracker

Community solar expands access to clean energy, lower electricity bills, and energy democracy to renters and homeowners without the means to invest in rooftop solar. Many states have created policies that enable community solar programs to flourish — independent of control by monopoly utilities.

ILSR tracks community solar capacity in states with formal programs that allow non-utility ownership.* Explore which states lead the country in community solar capacity, how the community solar market has grown by state, and how much each state contributes to total U.S. community solar capacity below.

*Our tracking, updated quarterly, is limited to states with accessible and regularly maintained datasets. We are not yet able to track capacity in Alaska, California, Delaware, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Virginia, or Washington.

Many utilities offer so-called “community solar” projects that they own, and force subscribers to pay a premium — thus maintaining monopoly control over the market and pocketing any profits for their shareholders.

To further energy democracy, community solar needs supportive state policy that allows non-utility developers to build and own solar gardens, establishes a fair price for utilities to pay for community solar power, and sets up a process for billing and crediting subscribers. States can and should go even further to design community solar programs that promote racial and economic equity.

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Featured photo credit: iStock