Solar is the most accessible renewable energy resource in Australia. It appears on rooftops all over the country. MyTown Energy includes a number of different approaches to increasing the uptake of solar energy in your community. This explainer helps you understand how they differ from each other.

Front of meter community-owned projects

Projects known as 'front of meter' connect directly to the electricity system rather than being on a site with an existing energy user (like a business or a house). The electricity generated is often worth only half as much as power generated from an equivalent behind-the-meter project. These projects are more difficult to develop but can be valuable for households and businesses that can't develop solar on their own roofs. Front of meter projects can also end up more expensive than rooftop projects because they need to pay for a new connection to the grid and purpose built panel mounting. Economies of scale make very large solar projects cheaper (>10MW), but at the community scale (200kW to 5MW) solar projects generally have much poorer returns than rooftop solar.

A solar garden is the most ambitious solar project in MyTown Energy. It involves building a large-scale solar system, recruiting customers to own their 'plot' in the solar garden and negotiating with a retailer to handle the financial flows. It can use community solar on a large roof (and be behind the meter) in which case there is also a site-owner and energy user to negotiate with as well.

Setting up a large-scale solar system or solar farm involves finding a suitable location with access to that part of the electricity system with enough capacity for the size of project that you propose. It will require a relationship with a retailer to purchase the electricity generated and the renewable energy certificates that the site generates. It is likely you will only have an indirect relationship with the customers who end up purchasing the solar energy from your solar farm.

It makes sense for front of meter projects to be owned by communities because a collective approach is often needed to bring the project to fruition.

Behind the meter community-owned projects

Solar projects that are located on the same site as an electricity customer are known as 'behind the meter' projects. Being able to sell electricity directly to a large customer can reduce electricity bills significantly and make your project more cost-effective.

Setting up community solar on a large roof is the best way to capture value for your community because the project will be generating revenue for the life of the project.

Investing in solar for an organisation can be a good way to share the financial benefits between the organisation and those providing the initial capital for the investment. The initial capital might come from a community fund or from community investors.

Sometimes the host organisation for your community project realises the benefits of solar once you start investigating options together and decides to develop the project without community involvement. Community ownership or investment can often help overcome the barriers to solar uptake. If the solar system is oversized compared to the energy the organisation uses, this can benefit from a collective approach to identify the right business model and retailer partnerships.

Privately owned projects

Arranging bulk-buys and facilitating quotes from trusted suppliers can help with solar uptake.

Investigating alternative ownership and financing options can help overcome some of the barriers for rooftop solar.

Remember that public buildings sometimes don't have access to the capital or expertise for solar projects. As a focus of your efforts, public buildings will often stimulate widespread community support because they are used by many people across your community. They can also be a great place to publicly showcase energy innovations.