Paying for the solar-powered community

Editor's note: This article was originally posted on AOL Energy. Follow the link to view the full article.

By Shifra Mincer

As prices for solar photovoltaic (PV) panels continue to drop, utilities and power companies are increasingly looking for new and creative ways to add solar to their power portfolios.

Some have chosen a residential solar leasing model, in which homeowners provide rooftop space for solar panels in exchange for a monthly discount on their energy bills. Dominion Virginia Power has decided to try a different kind of model that would involve leasing community and public rooftops for the development of distributed solar power.

Dominion hopes to lease around 30-50 sites from schools, government buildings, community and neighborhood associations and nonprofit organizations and install roughly 10 MW of solar power. Participants will be paid a flat monthly leasing payment but will be able to see how much power their solar panels are producing with installed meters on their property.

Read more about the Dominion experiment at AOL Energy >>

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