NREL estimates 1TW of potential community solar in the US

February 15, 2024
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
The US Department of Energy called on the solar industry to treble the deployment of community solar to 20GW by 2025. Image: Castillo Engineering

The US has the potential to add nearly 1TW of community solar capacity if all technically viable community solar is deployed, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

In a recent report, called ‘Technical Potential and Meaningful Benefits of Community Solar in the United States’, NREL estimated technical potential for community solar capacity deployment with two different regimes, one dubbed Limited Access, with 967GWac, while the Reference Access more than trebles that number with 2.9TWac.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

The resource area for ground-mount community solar systems ranges from nearly 12,000 to 53,000 km2, which is in addition to resource areas considered for utility-scale renewables in urban and suburban areas where only smaller systems can be deployed and are not located on federally owned lands.

However, this is not the case in rural areas with large areas of land near substation interconnections, where utility-scale renewable energy would compete with community solar.

In both scenarios, the deployment would be made by rooftop and ground-mounted community solar, with the former’s potential capacity installation at nearly 400GW in either scenario.

At the moment only the state of New York has installed more than 1GW capacity, with 1.6GW, nearly as much as the following two states – Minnesota and Massachusetts – combined, as shown in the chart below.

Other states could follow suit of New York in reaching the GW-scale for community solar capacity deployment, among them Ohio, which last year established a 1.5GW programme or Wisconsin, with the potential to generate 1.75GW of community solar.

Calls to treble community solar by 2025

Momentum for community solar has been on the rise since the Inflation Reduction Act was passed in August 2022 and with several programmes – either for the financing of community solar projects or to help low-income communities – directed to boost community solar’s growth.

The market is expected to double in the coming years with 6GW to come online between 2023-27, according to a joint report from analysis firm Wood Mackenzie and trade association the Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA).

During the US Department of Energy’s National Community Solar Partnership (NCSP) Annual Summit yesterday (14 February) DOE’s principal deputy assistant secretary, Jeff Marootian, called for the solar industry to treble the installed capacity of community solar to 20GW by 2025, up from 7GW currently.

The target, which was announced by the National Community Solar Partnership (NCSP) – a coalition of community solar stakeholders – in 2021, would allow subscribers to save US$1 billion in energy savings.

Interest in community solar across the US continues to grow, not only from solar developers but also from investors with many transferability transactions coming from community solar. “There’s a lot of investment appetite,” said Bruce Stewart, CEO of community solar service provider Perch Energy in a conversation with PV Tech Premium earlier this week.

21 October 2025
New York, USA
Returning for its 12th edition, Solar and Storage Finance USA Summit remains the annual event where decision-makers at the forefront of solar and storage projects across the United States and capital converge. Featuring the most active solar and storage transactors, join us for a packed two-days of deal-making, learning and networking.
16 June 2026
Napa, USA
PV Tech has been running PV ModuleTech Conferences since 2017. PV ModuleTech USA, on 16-17 June 2026, will be our fifth PV ModulelTech conference dedicated to the U.S. utility scale solar sector. The event will gather the key stakeholders from solar developers, solar asset owners and investors, PV manufacturing, policy-making and and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out the PV module supply channels to the U.S. out to 2027 and beyond.

Read Next

Premium
October 17, 2025
According to Ronak Maheshwari of CRC-IB, there has been a struggle for US renewable power projects to secure necessary equity .
October 17, 2025
A group of over 20 US states are suing the Trump administration for the cancellation of the US$7 billion Solar For All Scheme.
October 16, 2025
T1 Energy and Nextracker have agreed to use the latter’s steel module frames at the former’s new 5GW module manufacturing facility in Dallas.
October 16, 2025
US utility-scale solar additions grew by 56% in 2024, reaching 30GW from 2023’s 19GW and representing over 54% of all new electricity generation capacity added in the country last year.
October 15, 2025
The average price of a solar PPA signed in North America increased 4% between the second and third quarters of 2025, according to LevelTen.
October 15, 2025
Independent power producer (IPP) Geronimo has begun construction on it’s150MW solar project in Illinois and commissioned the 125MW PV project in Michigan.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
October 21, 2025
New York, USA
Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Solar Media Events
December 2, 2025
Málaga, Spain
Solar Media Events
February 3, 2026
London, UK