Arcadia Power announced the launch on November 4 of what it calls “the first nationwide community solar platform” – offering U.S. ratepayers the opportunity to support solar energy and get savings on their bills.
The District of Columbia-based competitive renewable energy provider said it is solving a problem: Nearly 1 million Americans have installed rooftop solar to date and the cost of panels has come down fivefold since 2005, Arcadia states – but those rosy numbers don’t tell the whole story. Those installed rooftops represent less than 1 percent of U.S. energy consumers, and roughly 92 percent of all Americans today are locked out of ever joining the solar revolution.
Indeed, the company claims, “With Arcadia Power’s community solar, [customers can purchase enough panels to] bring [their] monthly energy costs to $0 by subscribing to a remotely located solar energy system [from any U.S. state], whether [they] live in an apartment or house.” And, the company says, those who enroll in the community solar platform will not be locked into a 20-year agreement.
How does it work? Customers go online to arcadiapower.com/solar, and purchase a “Solar Savings Subscription” to a specific community solar farm in an optimal location maintained by Arcadia Power. Every month as their panels produce energy, it is sold to a host or into the local power market, and customers receive bill credits directly on their utility bills.
“We’re making solar savings inclusive rather than exclusive,” said Arcadia CEO Kiran Bhatraju. “Our product cuts through many of the barriers that have held solar power back for so many years. It’s modern, portable, reduces long-term energy costs, and is available to anyone that pays a power bill.”
Arcadia states that its software also allows customers to see their panels’ production in real-time and to purchase panels across multiple projects. The community solar program runs on a software platform developed over the last three years by Arcadia that integrates with over 100 utility billing systems nationwide.
Other stated benefits of the program include:
- Portability – the program, and its savings, moves with the customer from utility to utility as they move homes;
- Modularity – customers can buy as few or as many panels as they choose; and
- Analytics – customers have access to real-time production data on their panels, as well as the savings.
Arcadia was founded in 2014 and has grown to serve over 10,000 customers across all 50 states.