Community Partnership: Affordable Solar
What Is Community Solar – And Why Should You Care?
If you’ve ever thought about going solar but assumed it wasn’t for you – maybe because you rent, live in an apartment, or can’t afford rooftop panels – New Mexico’s new community solar program is worth a closer look.
This program was created to make clean energy accessible to more people, not just those who can afford to install solar panels on their homes. Community solar lets you subscribe to a portion of a shared solar farm – a facility that produces solar power and sends it to the electric grid. In return, you receive solar credits that are applied to your monthly electric bill. These credits lower your utility costs, and you pay a reduced rate for the credits themselves, ensuring monthly savings.
Here’s why this matters:
- You don’t need to own a home. Renters, apartment dwellers, and mobile home residents are all eligible.
- You don’t need to install anything. The solar farm is offsite – no construction, no maintenance.
- You don’t pay anything to join. There’s no enrollment fee, no cancellation fee, and no risk of being charged more.
- You save every month. The credits reduce your utility charges, and you pay a discounted rate for them.
For households that meet income-eligibility guidelines, the savings are even greater. This makes community solar a rare kind of opportunity: one that’s both practical and equitable.
But there’s a catch – and it’s an important one.
New Mexico’s program is launching with a limited amount of available capacity. Right now, there’s only enough space to serve about 2% of low-income households statewide. Once projects fill up, enrollment will close until more solar farms are built. That means the sooner you sign up, the better your chances of locking in a spot.
At Cuidando Los Niños, we’ve partnered with Affordable Solar and their subscriber manager Solstice to help bring this opportunity to our community. We’re encouraging our network to take a serious look at what’s being offered — not as a favor to us, but because this is a rare win-win. It helps people save money and participate in the clean energy future we all deserve.
