Low cost and easy access to financing remain key barriers to providing access to community solar to the low income (LI) market. ICAST has realized that lower cost financing is easier if it offers a 100% LI solar program and not a set aside of LI in an otherwise market-rate solar program. CDFIs, Green Banks, Impact Investor and other mechanisms are coming into play that can lower the cost and make it easier to finance 100% LI solar projects.
There are still major barriers to financing LI solar projects. The only markets that are seeing high LI access to solar programs are those that are highly subsidized (e.g., California, Illinois, New Jersey and Washington DC) through state funding and SRECs. Subsidized programs are not scalable across the vast majority of U.S. markets.
