How Hotels can save with Community Solar
Overview: Hotels face rising electricity costs but can’t compromise guest comfort, making many traditional energy solutions costly, disruptive, or impractical to implement. Community solar offers hotels a simple, no-upfront-cost way to reduce electric bills by 10–15% without onsite installation, operational disruption, or long project timelines.
Hotels don’t have the luxury of choosing between comfort and cost. Cold air conditioning, hot showers, and laundry running around the clock are all critical to delivering a great guest experience but also mean ever-increasing electricity costs.
This situation has become increasingly difficult over the last several years, where occupancy swings, rising utility rates, and increasing electricity demand have made it harder for hotel operators to reign in electricity bills. While traditional energy solutions introduce tradeoffs that serve as barriers to adoption, community solar may offer the solution that helps your location take back control without adding more challenges to your day to day operations.
Rethinking energy strategies for Hotels
Energy Efficiency Upgrades
Pros: reduces consumption directly
Cons: capital Intensive, requires onsite installation
The first instinct to lower electricity costs is often to reduce usage, which naturally points toward energy efficiency upgrades. While these upgrades can be effective, implementing them is often more complex than anticipated. Projects require access to guest rooms or major equipment changes, potentially disrupting occupied spaces and the overall guest experience. Since hotels rely on high occupancy, consistent comfort, and positive reviews to drive revenue, even short-term disruptions can carry financial implications. Beyond operational challenges, limited budgets or competing investment priorities can have operators looking elsewhere for opportunities to save.
Onsite Solar Systems:
Pros: Generates energy onsite, strong/visible commitment to sustainability
Cons: Capital intensive, requires installation, regularly >1 year from contracting to operation
Onsite solar systems can be a viable option for some operators, but in many cases, the realities of the hotel business model limit their feasibility. Common constraints such as limited roof space, lease arrangements, and brand requirements can make installing panels on daily operations challenging for the typical operator. Even when these challenges can be managed, solar systems of this scale often require a year or more to plan and construct, which can shift focus to other investment priorities that have a nearer return on investment.
For some operators, energy efficiency upgrades or onsite solar may be the right fit, but the operational, financial, and logistical challenges these projects can present often make it difficult to move forward with confidence. As a result, many hotel owners and operators find themselves weighing options carefully, or delaying decisions, while seeking solutions that better fit their day-to-day operations and risk tolerance.
Why Community Solar may be the best fit for your hotel:
As an alternative in the right markets, community solar offers a simple way to benefit from solar energy, giving hotels predictable electricity savings without altering daily operations or making large investments.
Community Solar
Pros: No upfront costs to participate, no install onsite, typical savings between 10 to 15%
Cons: Only available in certain states (IL, MD, ME, NY, NM, etc)
Community solar systems seek to partner with electric customers within the same utility territory. As part of the partnership, your business receives bill credits for a share of the solar project’s monthly generation.
The major benefit in this structure? Your ability to save with community solar no longer has anything to do with how much roof space your building has, how much capital you have to spend, or how long your lease may be. Instead, it’s all dependent on how much community solar you subscribe to, which can be optimized with ease by our team at Turquoise Trail. Currently, these programs are only available in certain states, but this is changing rapidly as many states continue to adopt community solar legislation.
Want to learn more? Visit our What is Community Solar page
How do I know what Community Solar can do for my business?
While community solar for hotels is simple to use once enrolled, knowing how to get started can sometimes feel overwhelming. Turquoise Trail Energy Solutions helps hotel owners and operators navigate the community solar process from start to finish by evaluating eligibility, estimating potential electricity savings, and providing clear, personalized guidance.
If community solar is a good fit for your business, we work with pre-vetted, industry leading community solar partners to ensure a smooth enrollment process with the leading options in the market. If you’re interested in learning how your hotel can take more control over your electricity expenses, reach out today by sharing a single electric bill!
