Tri-County EMC, a member owned electric co-op, announced Thursday that its 1MW community-solar project in Eatonton, Georgia, has reached commercial operation.
Community solar is emerging as a promising new source of demand in the US, opening up access to solar among previously excluded groups. John Parnell reports on the prospects for a new market segment whose time seems to have come.
A member of the Alabama Public Service Commission (PSC) has sought a lease for a community solar plant on his land, that would pay US$5.6 million over a 25-year lease, despite previously voting against net metering for the state, said reports.
In this week's Movers & Shakers, PV Tech centres in on employment news in the US, as we examine career shifts in storage, manufacturing, non-profit and integrated energy companies.
Leading CdTe thin-film producer First Solar said it had secured a total of 121MW of community solar projects in the US with around 41MW (DC) under construction by EPC firm M+W Energy.
Last week, Minnesota utilities regulators ruled to take a value of solar approach for determining how community solar customers will be paid – making Minnesota the first state in the country to do so.
A guide to help US consumers make decisions on community solar has been released by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and the trade organisation Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA).
Community solar in the US could be a market worth as much as US$2.5 billion in revenues by 2020, but accommodating it will require a rethink of utility business models, a new report by Navigant Research claims.
