Community Solar is a great idea for both homeowners, renters and businesses who can't install their own solar roof panels due to too many shade trees, or other constraints. Essentially you subscribe to a share of a solar farm located offsite on a commercial rooftop, landfill, or parking lot canopy, for example.
Your household can subscribe to a project within your utility area (PSE&G) for the amount of electricity your home uses. The array’s solar panels create electricity every day and feed that power into the grid. You will receive a credit on your PSE&G bill to reflect profits from the array’s generated energy.
Typically, after deducting the subscription fee, customers can expect to see a 10% net savings on their electricity bills, while supporting the environment.
Here is a video explaining how it works.
Currently the number of subscriptions available is limited since this program is new to New Jersey. However, the Environmental Commission is working on increasing those subscriptions in 2022. When options are available you can find them on Energy Sage or look out for communications from us!
Note: If you are participating in Montclair's energy aggregation program, you can still subscribe to community solar. The aggregation program will kick in when your community solar is not producing the full supply. You'll still enjoy the savings!