As we’ve said before it’s a good time for community solar — at least at the moment. The US market has tripled in size since 2020, according to a new report by Wood Mackenzie and the Coalition for Community Solar Access.
However, only a limited number of states have pro-community solar policies, and their markets are going to get saturated. The report forecasts the market will grow 5% annually through 2026 and then contract by 11% through 2029.
Action by state lawmakers could change that, especially in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, where legislation is pending, or by creating pro-community solar policies in other promising states.
Unfortunately, utilities tend to oppose community solar and they are often powerful voices in state legislatures.
So the community solar industry has a fight on its hands. The good news is that it’s got strong champions on its side, among them Nate Owen, CEO of Ampion, who I interviewed in a recently released Energy Changemakers Podcast.
“We’re constantly having to bang down doors in areas that are, you know, not necessarily open to competition and/or a change in policy. So it’s a long battle that we fight,” Nate says.
Nate describes community solar as “a little rowboat bumping up against an aircraft carrier.”
“We’re trying to make the aircraft carrier take a bit of a perpendicular turn…or a 10 or 20-degree turn. We need a lot of rowboat,” he says.
Listen to my full interview with Nate, What’s Next for Community Solar? Please give us a review and follow the Energy Changemakers Podcast. We’ll be posting a new conversation every two weeks. You can also receive the podcast by subscribing to our free newsletter. Premium community members receive the podcast one week early.
Thank you! — Elisa Wood