Lower your electric bill with community solar

Lower your electric bill with community solar

Lower your electric bill with community solar

Community solar with Arcadia is a clean-energy subscription program that lets you benefit from solar power without installing rooftop panels. Instead, you—and other local residents, businesses, schools, and organizations—subscribe to a nearby community solar project (also known as a solar farm) that’s owned and operated by a third party.

The solar project produces clean electricity that flows into your utility’s electric grid, helping reduce your community’s dependence on fossil fuels and supporting clean energy.

As a community solar customer, you are assigned a share of the solar project based on the amount of energy you use. You earn solar credits based on your share of the energy the farm generates. These credits automatically apply to your utility bill, lowering what you owe each month. Depending on the size of the project, a single solar farm can serve dozens to thousands of subscribers. 
Learn more about how community solar works.

Illinois community solar projects managed by Arcadia typically offer subscribers up to a 10%-20% discount on the community solar credits they receive.  Low-to-moderate-income households or those currently on government assistance programs may be eligible for up to a 20% discount. Community solar is meant to provide savings over time; your exact monthly breakdown of savings will vary due to the seasonality of solar power generation. Savings are dictated in part by your state’s legislation, the project you’re subscribed to, and your own monthly electricity usage. When we match you to a solar farm, you’ll know what your expected savings rate is.

Nope! Neither your utility nor electricity supplier will change with community solar. Arcadia works directly with your utility company to apply savings.

Yep—nothing changes with how you pay your bill. Arcadia partners with the major utilities to ensure your community solar credits (your discount) get applied each month onto your existing bill. It's as simple as that!

We analyze your historical electricity usage to understand how many credits you’ll need each month from the shared solar project. States typically allow for higher electricity users to get a larger “share” of the project's energy output, bringing them additional savings, since their bills are higher from the start. But low electricity users can still save! Arcadia needs to see your historical usage before we can connect you to a community solar project.

Not directly. Instead of your home or business being powered by the solar project, your participation helps support the project's operations so it can produce clean energy for the overall electric grid. From there, the utility distributes it as needed throughout their service territory to everyone.

Joining your state’s community solar program through Arcadia is free! Think of it as a reward for supporting renewable energy. States receive funding from the government and are incentivized to increase their clean energy generation to meet America’s aggressive carbon-zero goals. Community solar developers and solar project owners get a piece of those incentives in the form of tax breaks, while participants like you, receive a discount off your bill. This entices more people to participate in community solar and ensures everyone is benefiting from clean energy. It’s a win for you, a win for states, and a win for the planet.