Community solar is typically a low-risk option for consumers to save on their monthly electric bill, especially when programs use the common fixed discount structure where subscribers always pay less than the value they receive on their electric bills.
But before the credits start showing up, there's one important decision to get right: how much community solar should you subscribe to?
The Main Risk: Oversized Subscriptions
Community solar generates bill credits that reduce your utility electric bill. But if you subscribe to more solar than you can actually use, you may receive more credits than your bill can absorb.
That is where the risk comes in. Unused credits may not always carry forward cleanly, and in some programs you could still owe payment to the solar project for credits that do not fully benefit you.
Example
Suppose a business has $10,000 in yearly electricity costs but signs up for a community solar subscription that generates $15,000 in bill credits.
If only $10,000 of those credits can actually be used, the remaining $5,000 may not provide real value.
With a fixed 10% discount, the subscriber could end up paying $13,500 for only $10,000 of usable value.
Why Sizing Can Be Tricky
Different states and utilities have different rules about which parts of your electric bill community solar credits can offset.
Solar production also changes throughout the year and a project may generate more credits during sunny months and fewer during winter months. To account for this, most programs allow you to carry over credits for 12 months. The issue would arise from receiving more credits than you would use in 12 months.
That means the goal is not simply to sign up for the biggest possible subscription. The goal is to choose a subscription that matches your actual eligible electricity usage.
How to Reduce the Risk
The best way to reduce the risk of unused credits is to size the subscription carefully before enrolling.
That usually means looking at recent utility bills to understand your typical annual electricity usage and monthly bill pattern.
For a business with a larger subscription size (1 million kWhs or more per year), additional steps are taken to review a full 12 months of electric bills, identifying which charges are eligible for credits, and accounting for any expected changes in operations.
How Turquoise Trail Helps
Turquoise Trail helps subscribers evaluate whether community solar makes sense and estimate the right subscription size based on their address, utility, and electricity usage.
The goal is simple: help you capture meaningful savings without over-subscribing.
Community solar can be a straightforward way to lower electricity costs, but like any savings opportunity, it works best when the details are sized correctly from the start.