Enabling Community Solar in North America

A good portion of the energy purchased by utilities is purchased from the power plant owner through a PPA. Why not have community or shared ownership of a power plant and have the utility purchase the energy from the plant? In this model the community would get a payment from the sale of the energy to offset their bill from the Utility. The major problem here in the US right now large solar projects are being constructed and owned by foreign corporations. An example is Renewable Ventures which is now a Spanish controlled company and they are leading the market in solar development and selling solar electricity to the local utilities all of the country. My question;

Do the customers in these areas know that their dollar is essentially going to a foreign company for energy produced right here in the US? Shared or Community ownership of solar has potential and it should and I believe will happen. But who is going to be the first to do it?

There is one other community project type, besides ratepayers owning shares or subscriptions. Community solar systems could be completely funded by ratepayer charges. These systems would be owned by the ratepayers and operated as a non profit entities. These public green energy parks could be operated in such a way as to return the revenue from the sale of solar electricity in the form of enlarging the solar system. As the system gets larger the output increases and so does the system growth.The increasing value of green electricity coupled with the decreasing costs of the technology would accelerate the growth. Over time significant growth would be experienced.
The continued growth of these parks would be funded by the sun. The ratepayers (and taxpayers) are paying a good portion of the solar revolution, they deserve a system to call their own. A green public power "plant" that grows in sunlight, destined to be a growing gift to future generations, is the ultimate solar community project.

David Henri (unemployed solar professional contributing nonetheless)
dhenri57_at_gmail.com

Call it what you want, solar power through religious congregations and other "communities" has significant upside potential. As more people -of- faith grasp their responsibility to better care for God's green earth, being a part-owner of a community solar array on top of a church or other structure serves many different priorities and missions.
--Jim Pierobon, Standard Solar, Inc., Gaithersburg, MD, USA