Most households can't put panels on a roof they don't own, don't have, or can't use. Community solar is the workaround: a large shared array, built somewhere sunny, whose output is credited to subscribers' utility bills.
How the model works
A developer builds a mid-size solar farm and sells subscriptions — either a share of the panels or a share of monthly output. Your utility then applies bill credits for your share's production. In the most common "subscription" model you pay the developer a rate discounted below the credit value, typically netting 5–15% off the electricity your share covers. No hardware, no roof, no installation, and it moves with you as long as you stay in the same utility territory.
Who it's for
Renters, condo owners, homes with shaded or old roofs, and anyone unwilling to sink $20,000+ into hardware. The savings are smaller than owned rooftop solar — you're buying a discount, not eliminating a bill — but the entry cost is effectively zero. Availability depends on state policy; roughly half of US states have enabling legislation, and the DOE's National Community Solar Partnership maintains program information by state.
The contract terms that matter
Community solar is a contract product, so the fine print is the product. Check four things: the discount structure (a fixed percentage below credit value is clean; a fixed $/kWh rate can go underwater if utility rates fall), the term and exit (month-to-month and 12-month terms exist; avoid multi-year contracts with cancellation fees), what happens when you move (transferable within the utility territory, or cancellable without penalty), and credit timing (some programs bank credits with a lag, which makes bills lumpy).
Geostellar and community solar
This site has history here — the earlier Geostellar ran group purchasing campaigns like Solarize Cleveland under its Solar Community Initiative, aggregating neighborhood demand for discounted installs. The group-buy model has largely given way to today's subscription farms, but the logic is unchanged: aggregation lowers the cost of going solar. Our Community Solar hub keeps the current guidance, and if you do have a usable roof, compare against ownership economics with the Solar Savings Calculator first.