Short answer: Community solar is a shared solar project, usually a few megawatts in size, whose output is split among local subscribers who receive a credit on their electricity bill. It is developed by specialist firms such as Nexamp, Cypress Creek Renewables, New Leaf Energy and Summit Ridge Energy, and is increasingly bought by long-term owners such as Standard Solar, Altus Power and Aspen Power, according to deal data from Enerdatics.
How Enerdatics solves this
Reach your next client first: Enerdatics tracks renewable projects, deals and financings across the US and Europe, so you can see who is likely to sell, build or transact next. Filter project pipelines by stage, market and owner to spot developers before they go to market. Every record links back to its source document. Community solar portfolios change hands constantly and most prices are never published, so Enerdatics shows who is selling, who is buying and at what stage, letting you reach the next seller before the portfolio is marketed.
Enerdatics tracks 101 US M&A deals involving community solar announced since January 2024. Available through CoreData, Stack dashboards, Leap AI and API.
Key takeaways
- Community solar lets households and businesses buy a share of an off-site solar project and receive a bill credit for their share of its output.
- US community solar passed 10 GW of cumulative capacity at the end of 2025, according to Wood Mackenzie, though 2025 installs fell 25%.
- Enerdatics records 101 US M&A deals involving community solar since January 2024, most of them portfolios below 60 MW.
- Standard Solar was the most frequent buyer in that set with 12 deals, followed by Altus Power and Aspen Power Partners with eight each.
- Large infrastructure investors are now buying whole platforms, as shown by GIP's majority stake in Summit Ridge Energy.
What is community solar?
Community solar is a solar project whose benefits flow to many customers rather than one site. The US Department of Energy uses this definition, and NREL notes that participants usually draw power from an off-site array rather than panels on their own roof.
A subscriber signs up for a share of the project's output. Each month the utility applies a credit to the subscriber's bill, as if the panels were on their own property. The subscriber then pays the project owner for that share, usually at a discount to the value of the credit.
Projects are typically between 1 MW and 5 MW, small enough to connect to the local distribution grid rather than high-voltage transmission. That makes them a form of distributed generation, meaning power produced close to where it is used.
Community solar suits renters, apartment dwellers and businesses that cannot install their own panels. Many state programs reserve a share of capacity for low and moderate income (LMI) households.
Where is community solar allowed?
It depends on state rules. NREL counts 23 states plus the District of Columbia with policies that support community solar as of June 2024, although projects exist in 44 states.
The large programs sit in the Northeast and Midwest. Wood Mackenzie reported that low volumes in New York and Maine drove the 2025 slowdown, and that it expects Illinois and the Mid-Atlantic to drive growth in 2026. It also lists Ohio, Iowa, Pennsylvania and Michigan as states with proposed programs.
State design matters more than sunshine. Program size caps, bill credit rates and LMI rules decide how much can be built and who can profit from it.
Who develops community solar?
Most projects come from specialist distributed solar developers. Names that appear often in Enerdatics records include Nexamp, Cypress Creek Renewables, New Leaf Energy, Cleanleaf Energy (formerly Borrego), OYA Renewables, Summit Ridge Energy and Delaware River Solar.
Many of these firms develop, then sell. In Enerdatics' deal set, New Leaf Energy appears as a seller to Standard Solar and Altus Power, Cypress Creek sold portfolios to 38 Degrees North and Dimension Energy, and Apex Clean Energy sold projects to SolAmerica Energy and Summit Ridge.
A second group develops and keeps. Nexamp and Summit Ridge Energy build and operate their own fleets, and raise outside equity to grow. Utilities and large independent power producers, such as EDP Renewables and AES, also run distributed solar arms.
A third group is the subscription platform, which signs up and manages subscribers for project owners. Wood Mackenzie found that four major subscription platforms and vertically integrated developers manage 55% of operational capacity.
Who is buying community solar?
Long-term owners with cheap capital. Enerdatics records 101 US M&A deals involving community solar announced since January 2024. Standard Solar was the most frequent buyer with 12, followed by Altus Power and Aspen Power Partners with eight each and Luminace with six.
Most deals are small. A typical transaction covers a portfolio of a few projects totalling between 5 MW and 60 MW, and only 10 of the 100 deals reviewed disclose a price.
The largest deals are platform deals. Global Infrastructure Partners took a majority stake in Summit Ridge Energy, a deal Enerdatics covered in GIP's Summit Ridge deal and US community solar consolidation. Apollo also bought a stake in about 148 MW of Osaka Gas community solar, explained in why Apollo started a new platform to buy US distributed solar.
| Buyer | US community solar deals since Jan 2024 |
|---|---|
| Standard Solar | 12 |
| Altus Power | 8 |
| Aspen Power Partners | 8 |
| Luminace | 6 |
| Radial Power | 4 |
| 38 Degrees North | 3 |
| Summit Ridge Energy | 3 |
| GS Power Partners | 3 |
Source: Enerdatics Leap, US M&A deals mentioning community solar, January 2024 to November 2026 (100 of 101 records reviewed).
Enerdatics records show that the eight most active buyers account for 47 of the 100 community solar deals reviewed, so the market is fragmented. A seller with a 20 MW portfolio has dozens of credible buyers, and the right one depends on state, project stage and how the subscribers are contracted.
Frequently asked questions
How does community solar save money? Subscribers receive a bill credit for their share of the project's output and pay the owner less than the credit is worth. The saving depends on the state's credit rate and the discount the owner offers.
How big is a community solar project? Most are between 1 MW and 5 MW and connect to the local distribution grid. State programs often set a size cap, commonly around 5 MW.
How much community solar is installed in the US? Wood Mackenzie counted 10.1 GWdc of cumulative US community solar at the end of 2025. It expects national capacity to grow about 12% in 2026.
Who buys community solar projects? Long-term owners such as Standard Solar, Altus Power, Aspen Power Partners and Luminace are the most frequent buyers in Enerdatics data. Infrastructure funds such as GIP and Apollo buy at platform scale.
Looking for community solar sellers or buyers in a specific state? Ask Leap three free questions, answered from Enerdatics data. No sales call needed.
