Solar for renters? Yes. Community Solar.
A person buys a share of a small solar farm.
Here is an article from PV Magazine with a summary of the newly-released Energy Master Plan. A goal for community solar is one of the topics.
PV Magazine - NJ energy master plan
The goal for solar power is to add 750 MW of new solar power in the state. The goal is for community solar is 150 MW, plus 300 MW of net-metered power and 300 MW of grid-supply power.
The 750 MW is in addition to the existing 5 GW of solar power, and the 1 GW in the interconnection queue
Cost avoidance of 150 MW
My rule of thumb is that solar panels get the equivalent of 1000 to 2000 hours of daytime energy per year at full nameplate power rating. So 150 MW of community solar panels will produce somewhere around 150,000 MWh to 300,000 MWh in energy each year. And, of course, it comes when nature makes it available so it is not under the control of system operators.
My rule of thumb for power plant size is that a utility-scale coal or gas plant is on the order of 500 MW, and a nuclear plant is on the order of 1000 MW, or 1 GW. Sizes vary widely. Some small town municipal utilities are using coal or gas plants under 50 MW.
So 150 MW would be approximately one-third the size of one coal or gas power plant.
My rule of thumb for the wholesale price of electricity is $50 per MWh. The actual instantaneous price varies from below zero to hundreds of dollars. I have seen published average prices from $30 to $80 per MWh. I am ignoring any possible income from payments for reliability based on the power rating in MW.
If $50 is a good estimate, the avoided cost of these solar panels is on the order of $7.5 million to $15 million per year.
Community solar? What is that?
One objection I get when I discuss solar-sourced electricity is that only people with enough roof space can take advantage of it.
Not true. There is a business model where a set of solar panels is jointly owned by a group of people, each of whom are credited on their utility bills for their share of the electricity generated. Fremont, Nebraska, population 27,000, has a municipal utility. It now has two community solar installations of 1.55 MW and 5 MW nameplate capacity. They call each installation a solar farm. The city’s rate tariff has provision to provide a credit to owners of a portion of the community solar farms.
In New Jersey, the master plan’s 150 MW of community solar is about 30 times what Fremont has installed. So perhaps 30 New Jersey towns could be served.
The PV Magazine article explains it this way:
“The plan emphasizes equity through the Community Solar Program, which has transitioned from a pilot to a permanent, regulated mechanism. The program enables subscribers to receive a bill credit for their share of generation from a remote array, providing access to residents who are renters, live in multi-family housing, or have unsuitable roof conditions.”
The business model is established so any place there is a municipal utility or a co-op it should be possible to start a Community Solar project.