Ten years after the nation’s first Community Solar Plant (CSP) was commissioned in Ellensburg, WA, the project not only continues to operate successfully, but has also expanded, not once, not twice, but three times. The Ellensburg Community Renewables Park pilot continues to attract “resident-investors,” community members who both fund the project and receive the full benefit of their investment in kilowatt-hour credits on their utility bill. Given its success, there are plans yet for a fourth expansion in the near future.

When this paper was first published in 2012,1 there were roughly a dozen Community Solar Plants in operation. Today, there are more than ninety CSPs in 25 states with more than 100 MW of cumulative capacity. New plants are commissioned every month. More than ever, Community Solar is bringing solar to neighborhoods and homes that otherwise do not have the opportunity. Local residents and businesses, whether they own, lease, have suitable roof space, or adequate sunshine, are able to invest in our green power future without the requirement to purchase outright their own individual solar system. It is all made possible through the power of collective investment and anyone living within a utility service territory that offers a program can buy “a piece of the rock.” Community Solar is today quite possibly the most affordable way to go solar.

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