We always begin the New Year filled with optimism and hope. Since 2020 showed such strong growth (see below for the latest numbers), we believe 2021 will be one of the best solar has ever seen.
In this e-newsletter, we discuss the challenging issue of community solar billing, check in on our community solar project in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, and discuss our role in creating a solar project on a former landfill that provides electricity for the Lake Elsinore Unified School District in California.
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BY THE NUMBERS: LOOKING AHEAD
Solar Market Forges Ahead
According to the U.S. Solar Market Insight Q4 2020 report, released in December 2020 by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie, solar accounts for 43% of all new electric generating capacity additions through Q3 2020, more than any other electricity source. The report projects a record 19 GW of new solar capacity installations in 2020, representing 43% year-over-year growth from 2019.
Our distributed generation and community solar pipeline continues to grow and we're excited to continue to add projects around the U.S. directly contributing to solar capacity and solar job growth.
How to Navigate the World of Community Solar Billing
Most community solar projects have anywhere between 20 and 100 offtakers (typically including a combination of residential, commercial and governments, among others), which makes it inherently more complicated to bill than a traditional single-offtaker project.
Billing for community solar can be intimidating to those companies that have never done it before. But if they focus on building strong relationships, fostering excellent communication and prepare to handle the unexpected issues the crop up in every project, then community solar billing will cease to be a mystery—and everyone will benefit from the project’s successes.
Former Landfill Now Provides Clean Energy for California Schools
The former West Riverside Landfill in Jurupa Valley, California is now home to an innovative solar project. The 8.2 MW project, funded by Standard Solar, will sell its electricity to Southern California Edison who will in turn issue bill credits to the power bills for 29 power meters of schools and buildings in the Lake Elsinore Unified School District that are not suitable candidates for on-site solar.
Our own Eric Partyka spoke to the Capital Gazette about our solar project in Anne Arundel County. The project, located in Tracys Landing and the county's first community solar project, is scheduled to come online this July. Dubbed the Checkerspot Community Solar Farm for the Maryland state insect (the Baltimore checkerspot butterfly), the array will feature pollinator gardens designed to attract butterflies and bees.
Read about this project and what it means for the county and state's renewable goals.
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