No roof? ‘Community solar’ can help

Heard about community solar?

The idea is simple. It allows anyone to hui up with others and benefit from solar panels installed anywhere on the grid — not just your own roof. Your share of the energy shows up as a lower electric bill.

We all know that solar power is a good deal. While the cost of electricity from fossil fuels has skyrocketed by more than 50 percent in the past five years, solar customers are paying record lows. Compared to dirty fossil fuels like oil, coal and gas, solar power is cheaper and cleaner and creates more local jobs.

But there is a problem. Many Hawaii households cannot put solar panels on their own roofs. Maybe you live in a condominium without enough roof space for everyone. Maybe you rent from a landlord who has not gone solar. Or your home is located on a "saturated" circuit where the utility has put the brakes on new solar installations. So while solar will continue to become even more affordable through innovative mechanisms like no-upfront-cost leasing, on-bill repayment and the state’s "GEMS" program for low-cost solar financing, customers are still locked out of solar.

Community solar is a solution. In a nutshell, here is how it could work in Hawaii:

A solar project could be installed anywhere on the grid that can accept more capacity — an empty roof on a warehouse, a community center, or another building with enough roof space. Or, panels could be built into a new solar project that plugs directly into the energy utility’s transmission network. Instead of buying panels to go on your own roof, community solar would allow you to join others who buy or lease a share of the panels installed somewhere else. When those panels generate energy, you would get a credit to lower your monthly electric bill.

At least 10 other states have passed policies to launch this concept. California calls it "shared renewables." Colorado and Min- nesota call them "community solar gardens." Massachusetts calls it "neigh- borhood" metering. Washington, D.C., calls it "community renewables." Under any name, this is a good idea.

Hawaii’s Senate Bill 2934 can help us catch up. It is based on language from the Public Utilities Commission, and provides legislative guidance on establish- ing a community renewables program that would be open to solar and other forms of renewable energy.

The bill just needs three key elements added:

» It must happen now; it should not wait for the utility or anyone else to take action in the future.

» It should exempt the electric utility. Nobody should stand in the way if the utility wants to launch a program like this.

» It should be open to everyone. Any community or company — not just the utility — should be allowed to propose an eligible renewable energy system.

With these elements, community solar can provide relief from rising oil prices. It can move Hawaii closer to 100 percent clean energy. It can help alleviate the backlog of solar approvals by spreading solar to underutilized circuits. And it can help to democratize our energy grid by making solar open and accessible for everyone.

Ultimately, this is an issue of equality and opportunity. We all should have the opportunity to directly benefit from the power of the sun.