Community Solar

Community Solar is a New Jersey Clean Energy Program overseen by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. The program’s goals are to reduce the traditional barriers to renewable energy access and lower energy costs for any New Jersey resident including renters and homeowners. 

A Community Solar project is a solar array whose energy generation is divided among multiple participating subscribers. Community solar subscribers sign up to power their homes from electricity delivered through the utility and generated by a solar installation that is located near, but not on, the subscriber’s own property. As a subscriber, you will receive a dollar credit on your utility bill for the portion of the power generated by the array on your behalf. Subscribers pay for solar energy at a discounted cost (refer to the projects and their discount levels). Community solar projects must be approved by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. 

Enrolling in this program does not change your utility provider. Refer to the JCP&L  community solar website for additional questions.

The benefits of subscribing to a Community Solar project are two-fold: you’ll save money and will be supporting New Jersey’s transition to cleaner energy. 

This is an ideal opportunity for renters, homeowners with shaded roofs, people who live in high rises, or anyone else that is unable to install their own solar array to participate and benefit from the generation of renewable energy. If you pay an energy bill and live in a community solar-powered community like Hanover, you can enroll.

1. A community solar project delivers energy from the panels located remotely in the community, like on a commercial rooftop, landfill, or parking lot canopy, to the local power grid. 
2. Your household can subscribe to a project within your utility area for the amount of electricity your home uses.
3. You will receive a credit on your bill to reflect discounted solar energy from the array’s generated energy (view the sample bill for the project you want to subscribe to).

As a subscriber you save money by receiving solar bill credits to offset your payment to the utility and then you pay the community solar developer for those credits at a discount (i.e. in projects where you have a 25% discount, for every $1.00 solar credit applied to your bill, you only pay the developer $0.75)

You can check Sustainable Jersey’s Project Finder which lists projects and standard discount levels available to residents and is searchable by zip code.

*LMI refers to Low-to-Moderate Income communities. Households with a combined income that qualifies as low-to-moderate; Residents of affordable housing who pay their own energy bill including recipients of Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program; OR Recipients of government assistance programs such as SNAP, LIHEAP, USF, LIFELINE, etc.

About Our Listed Community Solar Developers

Solar Landscape:

• Solar Landscape is a New Jersey based community solar developer that’s received several recognitions:
  • 2022 Inclusive Solar Outreach Award from the U.S. Department of Energy
  • Sustainable Jersey 2022 Sustainable Business Leadership Award
  • 2021 New Jersey Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award for Climate Change & Clean Air
  • 2021 and 2022 Top National Community Solar Project in Solar Builder’s 2021 Project of the Year
• Solar Landscape offers free solar energy job training. 

Capacity for any given community solar project is limited and available on a first come first served basis.

There are no sign-up, cancellation fees, or credit requirements associated with the projects Hanover supports. The subscriber only pays for the discounted solar credits allocated to their electric account.

You can use the following enrollment link: Arcadia | Solar Landscape to enroll in a project. You will need to provide your utility information (online username/password for your electric account or an account number depending on the project), a form of payment, and basic account information to enroll.

No! That's the beauty of Community Solar: you get all the benefits of clean energy without installing anything at your home. The energy produced by a project is sent to JCP&L and distributed across the energy grid, with the lower cost energy being attributed to the Community Solar subscriber.

Refer to the sample bill (PDF) of the project you’re interested in enrolling with.

Summary Bill: Some developers like Solar Landscape and subscriber management companies like Arcadia are providing a one summary bill experience where the subscriber provides access to their account with JCP&L. They pay Arcadia, who coordinates secure payment of the regular bill minus the discount and provides the subscriber with a summarized bill. This option is only available with automatic payments and helps align the timing of the subscriber experience. 

Even if you participate in a Community Solar project, JCP&L will still provide electric delivery service, and will still be responsible for service reliability and restoration. If the lights go out, you should call JCP&L.

No problem, contact your community solar project if you’d like to consider moving your community solar subscription to a new location. You can leave the project anytime, with no penalties or fees.

Contact our representative from the Hanover community solar project:

• Gina Viasus, Solar Landscape, gina@solarlandscape.com, 848-217-0207