In the United States, community solar is expanding, but most of that momentum is coming from a relatively small number of states with supportive rules.<\/p>\n
For renters and for homeowners whose roofs are shaded or otherwise not a good fit, those policies can determine whether community solar is even an option for lowering power bills.<\/p>\n
Here’s what to know<\/p>\n
A new snapshot of the U.S. non-utility community solar market shows that the second-quarter 2026 growth was not broadly shared nationwide.<\/p>\n
Community solar is an option that lets households sign up for a shared project and receive bill credits, which can be especially valuable for renters and for people whose homes are not a good match for rooftop solar.<\/p>\n
For households that are able to install their own system, adding rooftop panels remains one of the best ways to save money on home energy. Homeowners can explore EnergySage<\/a> to get free solar installation estimates and compare quotes.<\/p>\n But community solar is an excellent alternative when that’s not an option. Many states that are promoting community solar use it to help lower-income families decrease their utility bills and cut pollution at the same time.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, though, there is not uniform access to these programs across the U.S. Instead, according to PV Magazine<\/a> and the latest Institute for Local Self-Reliance Community Solar Tracker<\/a>, most of the recent community solar expansion came from just a few states.<\/p>\n Only New Jersey, New York, and Oregon topped 1% quarter-over-quarter capacity growth, and they have done so for three straight quarters, per<\/a> PV Magazine.<\/p>\n Of that group, New York was the clear outlier. It added 202 megawatts of community solar capacity in the second quarter of 2026, equal to 7% growth, and it was the lone state to pick up speed versus the first quarter, per<\/a> the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.<\/p>\n The snapshot of community solar across the U.S. suggests that most solar panels are lumped together in a few places, not spread out across the country. Figures from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory indicate that roughly 91% of all community solar capacity in the country is found in just 10 states, per<\/a> PV Magazine.<\/p>\n And, as the Institute for Local Self-Reliance reported<\/a>, only 18 states, alongside Washington, D.C., actually allow community solar.<\/p>\n More background<\/p>\n In places without established programs, development has been held back by interconnection queues, regulatory holdups, and bill-credit structures that offer limited value.<\/p>\n As community solar growth becomes increasingly concentrated in a small number of states, the strength and stability of programs can determine how widely lower-cost clean energy is shared. When those policies are weak or unreliable, many households, especially renters and low-income families, can be left with fewer chances to benefit.<\/p>\n Still, many households across these 18 states may be able to subscribe to a community solar project, slashing their energy costs, while others may find that rooftop panels make more sense.<\/p>\n EnergySage’s<\/a> free tools, including its solar map, show the average cost of a home solar panel system on a state-by-state level, along with details on solar incentives in each state. Homeowners who take advantage of these services can save up to $10,000 on an installation.<\/p>\n By adding a battery backup, you can save even more over time in day to day energy costs, as well as going off-grid or becoming more resilient in an outage. EnergySage<\/a> offers information on battery backups as well.<\/p>\n Where can I learn more?<\/p>\n These stories add useful context on why some states are moving faster than others on solar access. They look at how policy choices, permitting rules, and rapid build-outs can affect whether cheaper clean power reaches more households.<\/p>\n \u2022 In Connecticut and Virginia, new advocates target cheaper power<\/a> by speeding home solar approvals.<\/p>\n \u2022 Across the country, states leading the U.S. solar race<\/a> are reshaping energy markets.<\/p>\n \u2022 In Florida, installing more solar panels<\/a> than any other state in recent years is testing the grid.<\/p>\n These stories also underscore why policy design and project pipelines matter when solar savings are unevenly distributed.<\/p>\n Get TCD’s free newsletters<\/a> for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the United States, community solar is expanding, but most of that momentum is coming from a relatively…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348943,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[95733,9,11,10,98968,2927],"class_list":["post-348942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-community-solar","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-rooftop-solar","tag-solar-panels"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348942\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}