US utility to allows customers to source 100% energy from community solar

Another major US electricity utility has embraced the concept of community solar, with Pacific Gas and Electric customers soon to have the option of sourcing 100 per cent of their electricity from community owned solar installations.

A new program announced by PG&E last week will see PG&E buy energy produced by solar facilities within its service area, which covers about two-thirds of California.

According to a report in Climate Progress, customers can then buy into that energy, paying for enough solar to power either 50 or 100 per cent of their energy use.

The option will carry an extra cost of about 2 to 3 cents per kilowatt-hour, which PG&E says will “likely fall over time” as the cost of solar continue to fall.

PG&E’s move comes a few months after NRG announced it would develop a solar-based “micro-grid” for the city of Rutland in Vermont, along with personal energy management; portable power packs; electric vehicle infrastructure; community solar deals; and micro generation technology.

The initiative is of its goal to shift away from the large, centralised power grid in favor microgrid’s, transforming the distribution grid from a 100-year-old electric delivery model to a market-based platform designed to create efficiencies and distributed energy solutions through renewable technologies and energy storage.

PG&E said in a statement that the community solar option will benefit those customers with rooftops that aren’t in optimal locations for solar — houses whose roofs are shaded most of the day, for instance.

It cited a report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory that found that only a quarter of residential rooftops around the country are suited for solar, due to problems with shading or house structure, and due limitations