L R AS Published on Friday 6 December 2019 - n° 301 - Categories:the American PV
Improving access to American solar energy
American developers want to sell solar access by subscription as Netflix does. Monthly subscriptions are increasingly common in community solar energy, but this system is not yet widespread. American community solar is in an intermediate development zone.
Community-based solar is suitable for the 50% or 75% of Americans who do not have the option of installing their own system. But the system needs to expand.
Typically community-based solar copies the large solar systems that customers can subscribe to. They pay monthly for their solar energy consumption, often at a lower price than their regular electricity bill. Because they are usually located off-site, community solar gardens can provide solar energy to tenants as well as to people whose roofs are not suitable for a traditional solar system because of shading or slope. In 2018, the United States installed 1 GW of solar capacity. The distribution is very uneven, with half of the US states having installed less than 10 MW of community solar energy.
Energy suppliers have relaxed their conditions. They require fewer financial guarantees, and have reduced termination fees. Tariff discounts are becoming more common. Suppliers still need to improve their billing (one or two bills), coordinate their projects with those of the electricity companies, and on how to make community solar available to more customers. Really, there is a big change on the part of suppliers. They're looking to expand their services in terms of installing storage and interconnections. Others are looking to expand their business to achieve economies of scale.
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/community-solar-finally-comes-of-age
GreenTech Media of 3 December
Editor's note Community solar energy is a form of collective self-consumption. Instead of one member of the community producing the energy, it is generated by a third party who distributes it among the users. In both cases, the aim is autonomy of the community grid, and the lowest possible call on the external grid.
