Corporations are increasingly becoming involved in community solar projects due to increased interest from large corporations such as Walmart, which have been building their renewables portfolios through power purchase agreements. The Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA) president and CEO, Jeff Cramer, suggests that corporate participation can come from three different ways: offtake, real estate/lenders, tax equity or tax credit investment. The second option involves corporations lending space for a community solar developer to build a solar array on the rooftop of the corporation’s facilities. However, this option has limitations as not every state currently has a viable community solar programme in place. The third option is to invest directly in these projects with tax equity. Mat Elmore, SVP of strategic accounts at Pivot Energy, notes that community solar is easier to build and finance than other contract structures.
Solar Dominates US Energy Capacity Growth
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has published data showing that solar accounted for over 75% of US electrical generating
