Communities sharing solar power

Despite a lack of support from the Trump Administration, solar power is more popular than ever.
President Trump announced a 30% tariff on imported solar panel parts, with a declining rate over four years. Solar prices have plummeted by 70% over the last decade, in part due to the availability of cheap panels. Demand continues to increase for solar panels: Last year, solar panel jobs spiked 25% to 260,077 workers, according to the Solar Foundation, a nonprofit group that supports solar technology. Solar jobs have almost tripled since the foundation’s first report was released in 2010.

Community solar is the wave of the future

There are solar options available if your home is not compatible with solar panels. If you’d like to harness solar power for your home but can’t put panels on your roof, there may be another solution. Several U.S. states recently passed legislation to support the concept of community solar, which gives homeowners the chance to use solar instead of conventional power.
Community solar allows consumers to share solar power from a common system with other consumers. The solar power generated can be owned by municipal utilities, independent solar developers, a group of homeowners or businesses, or community and nonprofit organizations such as electric co-ops.

How leasing solar electricity works

Participants can own, lease or subscribe to a particular number of panels or a portion of the system and typically receive electricity or monetary credits in proportion to their share of the project. Consumers who select community solar continue to work with their utility but sign on for solar in addition to conventional energy sources. There are approximately 15.8 million homes in the U.S. that have the potential to go solar, according to industry experts. Only a few of these homes have installed rooftop solar power systems. Estimates suggest half of American households wish to go solar but can’t because they don’t have the proper kind of roof for solar panels, they don’t own the houses they live in, or can’t afford to invest in the systems, which may take about four years to pay back, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

There has never been a better time to install a solar energy system!

Solar power is here to stay, and the sooner you explore how much you can save, the sooner you can enjoy the benefits of residential solar power. Go to HahaSmart.com and try our price checker tool. It tells you how much solar power you need, and how much you can save.

Please visit our solar blog to find out more about the benefits of going solar.