The U.S. Department of Energy's Solar American Communities program recently released a community solar guide. The guide presents detailed information about three project models: utility-sponsored projects, special purpose projects formed for producing community solar power and non-profit sponsored projects.
The guide outlines the legal and financial implications of each model, provides practical tools and tips for planning community solar projects, and outlines best practices. It is intended to provide an outline of hurdles community project organizers might incur. The guide also includes an appendix with information about the Interstate Renewable Energy Council's Model Community Renewables Program rules.
The guide was developed by Northwest Sustainable Energy for Economic Development, Keyes and Fox, Stoel Rives, and the Bonneville Environmental Foundation. Stoel Rives attorneys Janet F. Jacobs and Sarah Johnson Phillips contributed to the Community Solar Project Models chapter, the Tax Policies and Incentives chapter and the Securities Compliance chapter.
Download a copy of "A Guide to Community Solar: Utility, Private and Non-profit Project Development"
"A Guide to Community Solar: Utility, Private and Non-profit Project Development" was published by National Renewable Energy Lab, a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, December 2010