Assessing large scale community solar membership schemes: A case in Austin, TX

About the project

In this project, we are investigating the impacts of a large-scale PV installation in an urban setting of the city of Austin. Specifically, we develop the fundamental metrics and measure the effects on vulnerable communities, land use, energy resilience, and workforce development. We also assess the impacts of various subscribership schemes and the role of anchor subscribers on the financial viability and performance of the project to maximize the benefits to the stakeholders of the project.

The project involves understanding the ecosystem and policy level landscape and studying socio-economic, environmental, socio-geographic and land-use impacts and opportunities to monetize resiliency. The study also encompasses understanding the barriers to development of community solar in the Austin area along with the proposal of a new community solar program in Austin.

This project is in collaboration with Profs. Brian Korgel and Javad Mohammadi.

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