Community solar is your ticket to saving money on your electric bill while helping to save the environment by relying on clean, renewable energy. With a discounted subscription to a community solar program, you can participate in solar energy without breaking the bank. It’s basically the best of both worlds; clean energy for your household and electric savings courtesy of solar credits from your subscription. But how do these credits work exactly?
In this article, we’ll explore how solar credits work and the key role they play in helping you save money with community solar.
What Are Solar Credits?
When you subscribe to a community solar project, you essentially subscribe to a portion of your solar farm’s produced energy. You also receive solar credits for your portion of the subscription. These will be added to your utility bill to help you save money. At the end of the month, you receive two bills: your regular utility bill (with the credited solar credits received from the solar project) and a separate bill from your community solar provider with your solar credits and your subscription discount.
After starting your subscription, you might notice some weird fluctuations on your utility bill over the following months. Don’t panic. This happens as a result of seasonal changes in your energy consumption and the amount of energy produced by your solar farm.
Your electricity usage varies by season…and so will your credits
In the spring and summer, your solar farm is able to generate more solar energy because it’s a lot sunnier outside. Additionally, you may need less electricity than when you heat your house in the winter, leading you to have a lower electric bill.
Since your project generated more power than you will need during those sunny months, you get to hold on to extra solar credits (for all that extra energy generated by the project).
In winter however, days are shorter and it’s not as sunny outside so expect your solar farm to generate less power. This is not as bad as it sounds because that’s when those extra solar credits from the summer come in handy. For a bill in December for example, even though your utility bill is technically higher (since you need more electricity in the winter), by utilizing your leftover credits from the summer, you still get to save money on that bill. Depending on your consumption and your saved credits, you might even get your utility bill that month down to $0.
Consider This Scenario:
Maria just enrolled in community solar. Her typical monthly energy consumption is 500 kWh (year round). Her community solar subscription yields 700 kWh in June. This is more than she needs so she has 200 kWh of unused solar credits.
In December, her subscription only yields 300 kWh of energy even though she still needs 500 kWh. She can now use her unused solar credits from June to cover the remaining 200 kWh.
Some Key Things to Remember
- Be patient. It will take up to a few billing cycles for you to start seeing the savings from your community solar subscription.
- You will have a clearer understanding of your overall savings as the first year of your subscription progresses.
- There is no need to worry about whether or not you’ll receive enough energy from the project. Your community solar provider takes into account your average annual electricity usage to ensure you have just the right amount to cover your needs.
Community solar gives you an easy path to electric savings and clean energy. If you have any questions and would like to learn more about the signup process, reach out to us and Finray’s dedicated team will be ready to assist you!
Learn how you can help by joining the movement
Written By Alfreda Adote | Edited By Lauren McGregor