At its core, community solar is a vital and much-needed means of democratizing the benefits of renewable energy. While many Americans may not pay much attention to utility bills, for low-income households, this is far from the case. Residential energy consumption surveys conducted every five years reveal that one-third of Americans face energy insecurity, leading them to make difficult choices between heating or cooling their homes and buying food. Shockingly, there are up to 39 million people in the United States who live under a roof that may be perfect for solar, but will find it almost impossible to capitalize on it. That’s almost 13% of the population and over 230,000 acres of roof space that stands to be excluded from the solar revolution.

For those who live in multi-family properties, rent an apartment, or otherwise can’t put solar on their roof, subscribing to a community solar garden offers the only option to benefit from clean, reliable, and affordable energy. Thanks to the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Dept. of the Treasury, and the Dept. of Energy (DOE) have launched programs to incentivize developers to build community solar projects that are either located in low-income communities or directly benefit low-income residents. Assuming states have enabling legislation to deploy community solar projects, the Low-Income Communities Bonus Credit Program creates the financial mechanisms to incentives these solar developments. For solar projects installed on affordable housing and benefiting low-income residents, the bonus credit program offers a 20% competitive boost on top of the existing 30% investment tax credit for qualified wind or solar energy projects in low-income communities.

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