As part of an ACORN project beginning in a time marked by bleakness due to COVID and lockdowns (mid-2020), representatives from Lake Forest Park’s People for Climate Action chose to prioritize hope for the future of their community and of the world. Partnering with an early-career graduate student and a representative from Seattle Public Utilities, they hoped to investigate community solar energy as an opportunity to bolster sustainability and equity and their own community. Solar power has largely been promoted and pioneered by single-family homeowners able to install and enjoy the benefits of solar panels and potentially associated battery storage. Community solar is a complex, but promising, prospect in that it shares both the cost and benefit of solar energy, allowing a greater number of people to benefit with lower financial barriers to entry. This ACORN project sought to understand community solar precedents and its potential and implications for Lake Forest Park.

What is Community Solar?

A large part of the project sought to define and delineate the complexities within clean energy and solar power. After thoughtful conversation throughout the group, the following definition was researched and described: community solar is an increase in the deployment of solar technology in communities, making it possible for individuals to invest in solar together. The benefits of community solar include: (1) the reduction of financial and technical resources to going solar, (2) can provide budget flexibility for participants, (3) occupant flexibility (not tied to any specific person or residence, or easily transferable), (4) allow for strategic siting (i.e., can be located to maximize efficiency, make use of brownfields, etc.), and (5) allow benefits of scale for larger arrays versus diffuse arrays.

Community solar can also include backup power for community use during a natural hazard, such as an earthquake. Additionally, we add utility-supported community solar projects to this definition, as opposed to solely that driven by private funding. Washington allows for third-party community solar installations in partnership with a utility, whereas other states’ programs exist as developed and managed by a local utility.

While the size of a community solar installation can vary widely, the EPA’s Community Solar guide references a zone of feasibility of project between 50 kW and 2,000 kW, since this is large enough for multiple subscribers to purchase shares, as opposed to accounting for a single user.

What Did We Do?

The primary deliverable for this scope of work was a document detailing Lake Forest Park’s setting and to understand the feasibility of community solar via precedent projects. Projects of varying sizes were researched and described, ranging from small-scale installations supporting resilience in Seattle such as the Miller Community Center [LINK], mid-scale projects such as the OPALCO Decatur Microgrid (Figure 1) to large utility-supported grids such as the Horn Rapids Solar, Storage, and Training project [LINK].

Community solar has a wide range of benefits including accessibility and sustainability, but is a complex logistical and legislative issue that is certainly encouraged by a transition away from greenhouse gas emissions in power generation.

How Did It Go?

This project did not result in any new community solar projects in Lake Forest Park; however, it provided an opportunity for one lucky grad student to work with community activists and utility managers to understand a complex and exciting opportunity for a better world. Ultimately, this project spanned several years with periods of both dogged determination and more relaxed attention by the group (mostly me J). I often felt out of my element – I’m a grad student who knew next to nothing about utilities, solar, or the relevant legislation starting out. However, I’m proud to have been a part of an excellent and exciting effort.

Acknowledgements

Huge thanks to the Lake Forest Park Crew (Mark P, Anne, and Mark J) to their unceasing patience, wealth of knowledge, and hope for a better future! Thanks also to Tyler Cox for all the nudging along the way. Thanks to ACORN and PCC for allowing students to do science in such a unique and impactful way. I’m grateful to have been a part of it!

Dakota Mascarenas (she/her) is a fourth-year graduate student in Civil & Environmental Engineering (Hydrodynamics/Physical Oceanography). During the course of this ACORN project, she conducted months of experimentation, started and finished a Master’s thesis, changed programs and advisors, moved a few times, and survived a global pandemic. She now works on observational data of ecosystem health in the Salish Sea for her PhD.