/biz/ - Business & Finance

Lets talk community solar energy production. (Under 1MW of production)

I contract out in the utility scale solar industry quite often (construction management). I get to see a lot of renewable energy projects at the utility scale (1MW+ capacity) quite often. These are multi-million dollar projects.

A glaring gap I see in the market is community level solar farms (ie. >1MW) which is something I think could benefit the residents and economies small town's who have no large industry. My opinion on this comes from growing up in a small town and now once again living in a small town. Generally, higher income earners in those areas often commute at least 20-30mins minimum to work, stores and recreation because it is typically better quality, affords a higher wage, or is cheaper.

I feel as though those small town residents rarely see opportunity to cut costs/ earn more back home due to how small and stagnant their economies are. Community solar to me seems like one solution to that?

You the investor profits from the PPA with the local power company or co-op. The power company gains cheaper energy and an albeit small but stable backup/peak power option. Residents see a decrease in their electric costs, in turn increasing their spending power, which can/will be recycled in the community out of sheer convenience. I watched something similar happen in my home town, however not with solar. The town dramatically improved, some investors moved in, and more local business thrived.

Anyone here work in the solar industry full time and have better insight on this? Help me poke holes in my theory. One issue I see is the PPA rates negotiated between the provider and the power company. On large scale this rate is fairly low and metered by the MWH, however utility scale projects produce so much power that the profit margin is pretty fat. A solution I see to this problem comes in the negotiation with the power provider. Higher PPA rate/KWH for the advantage of having the option?