La energía solar comunitaria supera los 10 GW en Estados Unidos y se prevé que crezca un 12 % en 2026

At a time when Americans are facing higher electricity costs and growing demand is putting new pressure on the grid, affordable, locally generated power has never been more important. Community Solar is helping meet that need by expanding access to the benefits of solar energy, lowering electricity bills and strengthening local energy infrastructure. The industry’s latest growth milestone highlights both the momentum behind the program and the increasingly important role it can play in the years ahead.  

Community Solar crossed a major threshold in the United States at the end of last year: 10 gigawatts (GWdc) of cumulative installations across the country.

The big news comes from an H1 U.S. Community Solar outlook recently released by Wood Mackenzie and the Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA) and shared online by Solar Power World. In the report, Wood Mackenzie and CCSA researchers announced that the U.S. officially surpassed 10 GWdc of cumulative installations in Q4 2025.

Annual installations in 2025 totaled 1,435 megawatts (MWdc), down 25 percent from 2024’s record-breaking volumes. But the researchers expect national installed capacity to increase by 12 percent in 2026, with capacity additions in Illinois and in Mid-Atlantic markets driving that growth, Wood Mackenzie noted in a news release.

And the researchers also expect the Community Solar segment will grow through 2027 as developers of renewable energy capitalize on soon-to-expire investment tax credits (ITC) for solar and storage.

“The segment’s near-term growth is anchored by a strong project development pipeline that now exceeds 8 GWdc, 29 percent of which is reported to be under construction,” Caitlin Connelly, a senior analyst at Wood Mackenzie and the lead author of the report, said in a statement. “Developers are navigating a complex federal policy landscape and interconnection queue backlogs to ensure their current pipelines are built out as efficiently as possible to meet the start-of-construction and placed-in-service deadlines required to secure the ITC.”

Wood Mackenzie reports developers have already laid pre-development groundwork ahead of proposed programs in states including Ohio, Iowa, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. And Connelly pointed out that the value proposition of Community Solar seems to be catching on in several states in 2026. “The passage of legislation in these markets could potentially add upwards of 1.5 GWdc through 2030; however, the removal of the ITC in 2030 will complicate new program design and timelines,” she said.

In more optimistic news, the researchers said average subscriber acquisition costs for Community Solar projects across all customer segments have dropped 12% since 2024, and Wood Mackenzie expects average costs will continue to decline gradually through 2030 due to market consolidation, digital marketing, and consolidated billing.

“Surpassing 10 gigawatts is a landmark moment for Community Solar and a testament to the resilience of this industry. We’ve delivered bill savings to hundreds of thousands of households and businesses even as federal policy headwinds have created real uncertainty,” Jeff Cramer, CCSA’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “But reaching this milestone is just the beginning. The expansion of mid-scale, front-of-the-meter solar and storage into new markets signals that our industry is diversifying and adapting in ways that will serve customers and the grid for decades to come. The pipeline is strong and the states stepping up to create new programs are proving that community and distributed clean energy remains one of the most compelling tools we have for putting affordable, accessible power within reach of everyone.”

The economic case for Community Solar is compelling: The CCSA reported last year that 1 gigawatt of Community Solar development can support more than 18,000 local jobs and generate $2.8 billion in economic activity at the state level. And, of course, there’s an environmental case for Community Solar: As we previously touted, Altus Power’s Community Solar avoided emissions of 265 million pounds of carbon dioxide equivalents in 2024, about the same as the greenhouse gas emissions of 28,038 gasoline-powered passenger cars driven for one year.

In fact, with more than 1.3 gigawatts of operating solar assets in its commercial and Community Solar portfolio, Altus Power is one of the country’s largest owners and operators of commercial-scale solar, and the company delivers solar energy across 30 states and the District of Columbia. And Altus Power’s Community Solar program has more than 40,000 subscribers and projects operating in nine eight states: Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, and Maine.

With Altus Power’s Community Solar, subscribers support clean energy and enjoy a guaranteed discount of 5-20% off their monthly electricity costs, depending on location. Community Solar represents a no-barriers way for renters and homeowners to help their community benefit from clean energy, since there’s no upfront costs or fees, no equipment to install or utility changes to make, no roof required, and no long-term contracts.  

Checking eligibility and applying for Community Solar takes just a few minutes — head to join.altuspower.com to get started. Contact Altus Power’s Customer Experience Team at hello@altuspower.com with any questions.