Quick definition
Not everyone can put solar panels on their own roof. Renters, apartment dwellers, and homeowners with too much shade or a roof that isn't structurally right for solar are all locked out of a rooftop installation. Community solar exists specifically for that gap: a developer builds a solar farm somewhere else, and subscribers buy a share of its output, getting credit on their own electric bill for their portion of the production.
No equipment goes on the subscriber's property. The whole arrangement runs through billing, not wiring.
At a glance: community solar projects now operate in 44 US states and localities, including DC, with 24 states and DC having enacted enabling legislation as of the Department of Energy's most recent tracking, though enabling policy still varies a lot by state and is more limited in parts of Canada.
Why it matters
Rooftop solar has real physical requirements: a roof facing the right direction, structurally sound, without heavy shading, and owned by the person installing it. A large share of households simply don't meet all of those conditions. Community solar opens solar participation to that much wider group, without needing any of it.
The tradeoff is that community solar generally delivers smaller savings than owning a rooftop system outright. A subscriber is buying a share of someone else's solar farm at a set credit rate, not eliminating their own bill entirely the way a well-sized rooftop system paired with net metering could. It's a more modest, lower-commitment way to participate in solar, not a full replacement for ownership economics. To see Community solar in a real example, the 25-year lifetime savings calculator in our Savings & Payback section applies it to a working system.
Program structure varies a lot by state and utility, which is exactly why the fine print matters here more than it might for a straightforward rooftop purchase. Credit rates, subscription fees, contract length, cancellation terms, and portability if you move all differ from one program to the next, even within the same city; the Department of Energy's own community solar market tracking shows just how unevenly state policy and program design have developed across the country.
Where you'll see this
If you're a renter or apartment dweller exploring solar, the community solar for renters calculator estimates realistic savings for a subscription-based approach.
Before committing to any specific offer, the community solar quick savings estimator gives a fast ballpark of what a subscription could actually save you.
This term comes up any time rooftop solar isn't a realistic option, in utility bill credit programs, and any discussion of solar access for renters or shaded properties. In states with a solar-specific renewable energy credit market, some community solar programs also pass along a share of REC value, worth checking against the SREC value estimator if that applies to your subscription. New York's community solar program, run by NYSERDA, shows how a state program signs up subscribers and credits their bills.
Related terms
Frequently asked
No. This is one of community solar's biggest advantages over rooftop solar: renters and apartment dwellers can subscribe just as easily as homeowners, since nothing gets installed on the subscriber's own property.
It varies by program, but most community solar subscriptions are structured to save a subscriber a modest percentage compared to standard utility rates, often in the range of 5 to 15%, depending on the specific program's credit rate and any subscription fees.
No. Availability depends heavily on state or provincial policy, and community solar programs only exist in jurisdictions that have specifically enabled them through legislation. Some states and provinces have large, active markets, while others have none at all.
Usually yes, though terms vary by aggregator and program. Many subscriptions are tied to a specific utility service territory, so moving outside that territory typically requires canceling, while some programs offer portability if you're moving within the same utility's area.