Community and Financial Solutions for Solar

NREL produces data, analysis, and tools to help communities and decision makers understand and overcome financial and policy barriers in established and emerging solar markets.

Energy Justice in Solar Adoption

NREL's research and analysis has produced a range of resources to help communities and organizations advance energy justice and equity in solar adoption.

Solar Energy Innovation Network

The Solar Energy Innovation Network helps communities develop transformative approaches to adopting solar energy. Teams develop their ideas in real-world contexts, yielding results that can unlock tomorrow's solar markets.

Market Acceleration Studies

The Solar Energy Evolution and Diffusion Studies are a series of industry-wide studies that use data-driven and evidence-based methods to identify characteristics, motivations, and barriers to photovoltaic adoption.

Financial Solutions

Flexible Financial Credit Agreements for Solar Adoption

Along with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, NREL led the discovery, design, and advancement of flexible financial credit agreements to enable solar adoption for low-to-moderate-income customers.

Pathways for Low-Income Solar Access

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) offers solar resources intended to support state and local implementers of the Department of Health and Human Services Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and the DOE Weatherization Assistance Program.

Local Government Solutions

Decision Support for Local Governments and Communities

NREL provides decision support to help states, local jurisdictions, tribal governments, territories, islands, rural communities, remote areas, and other communities implement clean energy solutions.

City and County Solar Photovoltaics Training Program

NREL offered a no-cost photovoltaics training program for 50 cities and counties seeking to go solar on their facilities—both buildings and land. Video recordings of the training program are available.

Municipal Franchise Agreements and Clean Energy Objectives

NREL's research on municipal franchise agreements identifies which municipalities have the authority to enter franchise agreements, how many have pursued clean energy objectives through those agreements, and what impacts existing agreements have had relative to clean energy goals.

Solar Permitting, Inspection, and Interconnection

To address solar permitting, inspection, and interconnection challenges and delays, NREL has developed software and analysis to identify best practices and streamline related review timelines.

Community Solar Solutions

National Community Solar Partnership+

The DOE's National Community Solar Partnership+ is a coalition of stakeholders working to expand access to affordable distributed solar and enable communities to realize meaningful benefits of solar energy.

Community Power Accelerator

The DOE Community Power Accelerator connects community-benefitting solar developers and organizations to investors, lenders, and philanthropies to finance and deploy equitable solar projects in communities across the country.

Clean Energy Connector for LIHEAP and WAP

The DOE Clean Energy Connector is a digital tool that enables state and local LIHEAP administrators to integrate community solar subscriptions into their low-income assistance programs and make bill savings more accessible to households.