Find out what you don't know about community solar projects in the U.S. C.J. Colavito, Vice President of Engineering, Standard Solar recently presented on Community Solar Projects at the Renewable Energy World + Series.

1. Community Solar Projects and
Programs: Today and Tomorrow
C.J. Colavito – Standard Solar

2. About Standard Solar
A Leader in Distributed Generation Solar PV
• 17 years of
sustainable growth
Operating in
20 STATES
• Over 250MW of projects
long term ownership and
management
• $500,000,000 in
investment capital
• Expertise in development,
engineering, construction,
O&M, and asset
management

3. Community Solar
Experience
• Over 150 MW of CSG projects
owned
• Over 100 MW of CSG projects
in late-stage development
• Active in Community Solar in 9
States
• CO, DC, IL, ME, MD, MA,
MN, OR, & NY

4. Community Solar Development Goals
Why this policy is important
• Increase renewable energy deployment
• Focused on Distributed Generation
• Push to 100% renewable electricity nationwide
• Climate Justice and Access
• Benefit Low and Moderate Income (LMI)
population
• Access to underserved communities
• Access for those who cannot deploy rooftop
solar
• Renters
• Poor solar resource
• Structural limitations
• Permitting challenges

5. Community Solar Success
What makes Community solar work
• Specified dollar value for credits
• kWh credit or dollar credit
• Limit uncertainty of value
• Access for all types of subscribers
• Anyone in utility service area
• Commercial and residential
• Flexible subscription sizes
• Guaranteed savings to customers
• Often 5-15%
• No cancellation fees, no upfront cost
• Specified value to unsubscribed energy
• Large DG size limit permitted
• 1-5 MW AC
• Transparency and consumer protection
• Streamline subscriber management & billing
• Incentives to develop on undesirable land
• Brownfields, landfills

6. Community Solar Challenges
Barriers to Development
• Permitting
• Every AHJ is unique
• Many layers of review and approval
• Planning & Zoning
• Fire marshal
• Soil conservation
• Army Corp of Engineers
• FAA
• Building and Electrical
• Interconnection
• Long, complex interconnection reviews
• Regional cluster studies
• Many projects in queue
• Upgrade costs can be prohibitive
• Subscribership & Credit
• Challenging to fully subscribe in some areas
• Difficult to engage LMI communities
• Banks demand risk management through credit
review and requirements

7. Community Solar Future
Essential Policies for Growth
• Consolidated Billing
• One bill from utility for both CSG and utility
• Simplifies billing
• Lowers subscriber management costs
• Opt-out programs
• Automatically enroll local community
• Target LMI
• Guarantee savings
• Competitive auction for savings value &
community benefit
• Build queue of projects by utility territory
• Eliminate subscriber acquisition costs
• Limit credit risk & unsubscribed energy risk

8. Questions & Contact Info
C.J. Colavito, VP of Engineering
Cj.Colavito@standardsolar.com
240-479-1507