Community Solar is a shared solar farm that brings together multiple users to maximize the advantages of a single solar array without requiring the cost of purchasing or installing panels.
Usually, homeowners and renters, businesses, non-profit organizations, and low-income households are benefitted from these types of projects.
Due to a lack of awareness and understanding about its operation, there are several misconceptions about community solar. For example, community solar is expensive and allows only property owners for long-term contracts, and despite being a green power it harms the environment.
By the time you travel through this guide, you will understand various myths speculating about community solar and figure out if it is better than rooftop solar. It’s time to clear all your incorrect assumptions and identify which states these projects are available in the US.
5 Common Community Solar Myths:-
1. Community solar is expensive
Earlier, the community solar was highly expensive, although the exact rate isn’t specified officially due to limited technology. Currently, the project costs to set up solar farms range between $0.80 to $1.36 per watt approximately based on these two main types of pricing models— ownership and subscription.
Mostly, community solar are subscription-based models allowing users to sign up for free and eventually gain 5% to 20% of savings on their electricity bills based on their location and type of project.
Here is a simple breakdown of how subscribers with an average of 10% on their electricity bills can save $10 per month and $120 per year on a $100 monthly electricity bill:
- Original Utility Bill: $100
- Community Solar Credits: $60
- Utility Payment: $40 ($100 – $60 = $40)
- Community Solar Payment: $50
- Total Payment: $90 (Utility Payment + Community Solar Payment = $40 + $50 = $90)
- Monthly Savings: $10 ($100-$90= $10)
- Annual Savings: $10 x 12 months = $120
This is one such real-life example that proves community solar is cheaper than traditional electricity due to its lower operational and maintenance costs. Community solar provides long-term benefits by having a positive impact on the environment, boosting economic growth, reducing energy dependence on fossil fuels, and easier accessibility.
2. You must own property to participate in community solar
Community solar programs can be accessed by multiple participants such as renters, condo owners, businesses, non-profit organizations, and Low and Moderate-income (LMI) households.
Multiple users benefit from community solar projects by sharing the electricity generated by a single solar array, which helps them mitigate the upfront costs and additional ownership responsibilities.
However, for the distributed electricity through virtual net metering, community solar subscribers need to make payments in the form of a monthly subscription fee. In return, each subscriber receives a credit based on a certain percentage of dollar value offset by the community solar subscription that helps to lower electricity bills.
Most importantly, it is recommended to carefully read the project’s cancellation terms and conditions before you sign up for a subscription.
3. Community solar requires long-term contracts
One of the main reasons for this misconception was that the contract terms were earlier prepared based on power purchase agreements (PPAs), which means that you need to accept the program for 20 to 25 years. In the present world, agreements for community solar projects are prepared with flexible terms that don’t require long-term contracts and allow free cancellation of subscriptions.
Although, a few companies won’t impose any penalties for an early exit, but still require a standard cancellation notice of a 90 to 120-day period.
4. Community solar farms harm the environment
Despite community solar contributing benefits to reducing carbon emissions, it can severely impact the environment such as habitat destruction and land usage conflicts. There are a few strategies to minimize environmental damage by making use of marginal or degraded lands that wouldn’t be suitable for agricultural or natural lands:
Agrovoltaics: The solar energy production with agriculture is combined with Agrovoltaics (also known as Agrivoltaics). This dual-usage strategy benefits the solar and agricultural industries by integrating solar panels and crops on the same piece of land. In other words, the crops or agricultural production are placed beneath or adjacent to solar panels.
According to the statistics provided by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), 314 agrivoltaic projects in the U.S. have generated more than 2.8 GW of solar capacity, mainly focusing on grazing and pollinator habitat combined with crop production.
Pollinator-Friendly Designs: The pollinator-friendly solar farm designs spread the turfgrass or crushed stone pieces (gravel) under the solar panels.
Known as the pollinator-smart habitats, the shade-tolerant wildflowers, and grasses are combined by growing under and above the solar panels, attracting a wide range of pollinator species. This approach not only helps to avoid shading on the panels but also enhances biodiversity and increases the ecological value of the land by reducing soil erosion, maintaining cooler surface temperatures, and promoting solar energy systems being more carbon-neutral.
According to the research study proved by the Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, pollinator-friendly solar farms that have native grasses and flowers under solar panels can improve the population of native bees more than 20 times in a few years.
5. Community solar is the same as green power
Despite Community solar and green power being the renewable energy options, they differ in terms of operational and financial aspects in the following ways:
Operational: Community solar farms are small-scale projects operated on a shared location such as solar farms that require a few acres of land and generate electricity as the PV systems harness sun energy. In comparison, Green Power requires customers to purchase RECs (Renewable Energy Credits) that indicate the right to utilize the environmental benefits of electricity generated.
Community solar promotes the development of renewable energy by motivating people to prefer solar energy, even if they don’t have ownership of the solar panels. Also, it assists developers in building additional projects and generating renewable energy. However, green power plants obtain electricity from existing pre-built projects that operate throughout the nation, rather than creating new ones.
Financial: Community solar offers credits as discounts that vary according to state and help save 5 to 20% off electricity bills without requiring to invest any upfront cost. On the other side, purchasing green power plans such as the RECs can prove to be expensive and might not help provide the same level of savings as community solar.
Here you need to understand an important fact that signing up for green power doesn’t mean it is wrong. Even though green power supports renewable energy and minimizes carbon footprint, it neither contributes to the development process of clean energy nor supports local projects when compared to community solar.
Is a Community Solar Better Than a Rooftop?
Community solar can be better than rooftop solar based on your requirements, with each having its pros and cons:
Benefits and Drawbacks of Community Solar:
ADVANTAGES:
- Affordable subscription costs more than purchasing rooftop solar panels.
- Shorter contract terms and easy cancellation.
- Easy option if you’re relocating or selling your property.
- The smart grid technology helps to sustain power outages and perform well in harsh climate conditions.
DISADVANTAGES:
- Despite 10 to 25% savings, you are still required to pay 75 to 90% of your energy requirements.
- As you would gain the shared benefits along with other subscribers, you won’t be eligible for ownership, which leads to a lack of incentives compared to a rooftop system.
- Community farms require huge land space.
- You need to be located in closer proximity to a solar farm.
Benefits and Drawbacks of Rooftop Solar:
ADVANTAGES:
- It can lower your monthly electricity bill by being the independent solar system owner and not as a community.
- You can benefit from federal tax credits that will make it affordable by covering many installation costs.
- You depend less on utility companies and the grid by generating your electricity.
- Solar installation on the roof can increase the property value of your home if you decide to sell.
DISADVANTAGES:
- Despite credits and rebates, rooftop solar comes with higher upfront costs.
- Requires frequent monitoring and higher maintenance.
- Not suitable for all roof types.
Overall, Community Solar is beneficial for renters and apartment residents not have suitable roofs and looking for a low-maintenance option. Rooftop solar is best for homeowners looking for higher potential savings and earn extra benefits from tax incentives.
Is Community Solar Available in All States?
NO, Community solar is available in 42 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, in the U.S. as of 2025, and here is the detailed list analyzed based on the community solar map:
- Alaska
- Washington
- Oregon
- California
- North Dakota
- Minnesota
- Wisconsin
- Michigan
- New York
- Vermont
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Rhode Island
- New Jersey
- Maryland
- Virginia
- North Carolina
- South Carolina
- Georgia
- Florida
- Tennessee
- Kentucky
- Indiana
- Arkansas
- Texas
- New Mexico
- Arizona
- Nevada
- Hawaii
- Colorado
- Illinois
- Missouri
- Kansas
- New Hampshire
- Lowa
- Nebraska
- Utah
- Oklahoma
- Ohio
- District of Columbia
Ray is an avid reader and writer with over 25 years of experience serving various domestic and multinational private and public energy companies in the USA.