Empowering Communities with Solar: A guide to designing and deploying transformative, community-centric solar projects

Abstract

The clean energy transition has created a once-in-several-generations opportunity to build a more just, equitable, and decentralized energy system. Through interviews with experts in energy justice and across the energy industry, this study explored how distributed solar projects can be intentionally designed to maximize the positive impact on the communities they serve, with a particular focus on historically excluded communities. The research unearthed five key learnings that cover a range of topics, from the pre-requisites for community-centric solar projects, to the specific benefits that can be designed into a project, to the financial considerations required to bring a project to life, to how individual community-centric projects can join together to shift the energy system as a whole. This work hopes to help aligned stakeholders in the energy industry transform from passive allies to active co-conspirators in shaping a more just and equitable energy future.