In Oregon, you get to choose how you go solar. With rooftop solar incentives, solar-ready incentives, rebates from the state of Oregon and options for group investment in solar via the Oregon Community Solar program, there are plenty of options and you can choose the kind of solar that’s right for you.
Solar can be installed on the rooftop of a home or business—or on your property—and connected directly to your electric panel so the solar power you are making is used to decrease your monthly energy bills. In addition to helping you control your energy costs, rooftop solar can also increase your property value. When rooftop solar is paired with battery storage it can provide energy resilience. A solar + storage system makes it possible for you to have electricity for important loads – even when the power goes out.
Find out how you can join the more than 15,000 homes and businesses that have rooftop solar in Oregon.
Learn more about rooftop solar for your home >
Learn more about rooftop solar for your business >
Get a bid for a rooftop solar system todayCommunity solar projects give customers an opportunity to subscribe to a portion of a solar system and receive a credit on their monthly utility bill for the electricity generated from that portion of the system. Community solar projects can be located on buildings—like businesses, government buildings, schools or churches—or free-standing in an undeveloped area.
The Oregon Community Solar Program gives customers of Portland General Electric, Pacific Power and Idaho Power an opportunity to subscribe to a portion of a community solar project that is shared with many other customers. Community solar can be a great option for renters, people who live in multifamily buildings, homeowners or businesses that can’t serve their full energy needs with rooftop solar, and other customers who want to use clean energy but may not have a sunny roof of their own or the means to invest in a rooftop system.
Learn more about the Oregon Community Solar Program >
The Oregon Community Solar Program is administered by the State of Oregon. Participation in the Community Solar Program allows customers to offset their energy usage with electricity generated from a certified community solar project.
The Oregon Community Solar program provides opportunity for community-driven projects that will serve local communities. Because only a select few organizations have developed community solar projects before, Energy Trust has developed an incentive to help local community organizations navigate the financial and technical hurdles of a typical community solar project.
Public or nonprofit organizations interested in developing a community solar project of any size are eligible for this incentive. Additionally, private developers working on a small community solar project—up to 360 kW-AC in size—are eligible to receive the incentive.
Eligibility criteria, requirements, incentive details and process for applying are described on the application forms:
First complete the Project Enrollment Application (Form 210CS) >
Once your Project Enrollment is approved, submit the Request for Funding (Form 230RF) >
Energy Trust of Oregon is pleased to announce incentive selections for five small-scale community solar projects aiming to serve customers that are traditionally underrepresented in public processes and solar incentive programs.
On May 27, 2021, Energy Trust’s Solar program announced a custom incentive process to support small-scale (<360kWAC) community solar projects. The program received eleven applications, screened projects for eligibility, ranked projects by incentive request, and selected five projects based on funding availability. Pacific Power selections were limited to those incentive requests that could be fully supported within the dedicated $500,000 of available funding. Ranked from smallest total incentive request to largest, the following projects have been selected for the Small-Scale Community Solar Incentive:
| Rank | Project Name | Project Manager | Location | Aggregate Project Capacity (kWAC) | Total Incentive Request | Utility |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jim & Salle’s Place | ROSE Community Development Co. | Portland | 40 kWAC | $53,000 | PGE |
| 2 | OSF Community Solar | Oregon Clean Power Coop | Talent | 129.6 kWAC | $100,000 | Pacific Power |
| 3 | Whisky Creek Solar | Whisky Creek PM, LLC | Beatty | 165 kWAC | $105,000 | Pacific Power |
| 4 | Cherry Creek Solar | Cherry Creek Project Manager, LLC | Sprague River | 359 kWAC | $135,000 | Pacific Power |
| 5 | Wood River Solar | Wood River PM, LLC | Klamath Falls | 359 kWAC | $140,000 | Pacific Power |
Project Managers for selected projects will be sent a Preliminary Incentive Reservation notice and instructions on next steps and further required actions.
We look forward to incorporating learnings from this process into future incentive offerings to support more small-scale and community-led community solar projects.
Please email solar@energytrust.org to request to be notified of future community solar incentive opportunities.
Give us a call at 1.866.368.7878 or send us an email at info@energytrust.org.