Nevada Solar For All – Community Solar Subscriber Program Overview
In 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded a $156 million Solar for All grant to Nevada Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) to implement programs in Nevada that enable communities to benefit from distributed solar energy. The Nevada Solar for All (NSFA) programs must deliver the equivalent of at least 20% monthly savings to every participating household, with a standard monthly savings amount set based on the average utility bill across the utility’s service territory. NCEF selected United Way of Southern Nevada as its partner to help administer the NSFA Community Solar Subscriber Program.
Eligible households can subscribe to receive a monthly stipend associated with the energy savings from larger community solar systems across Nevada. As a result, subscribers can receive the benefits of solar without the need to put solar panels on their roof and at no added cost. NCEF separately works with the larger community solar site hosts to build the projects, which, under the Solar for All program, are required to share at least 50% of the financial benefits with eligible community solar subscribers.
Households unable to participate in other NSFA or solar programs are encouraged to apply to the Community Solar Subscriber program. This includes renters that are not participating in the NSFA Multifamily Affordable Housing Program as well as single-family homes that are unable to install rooftop solar on their own homes.
Types of Assistance
NCEF will distribute monthly stipends to community solar subscribers through UWSN via credits to subscriber’s energy bills. Stipends will meet or exceed the equivalent of 20% monthly utility bill savings, compared to an average utility bill across the utility’s service territory. The value of the monthly stipend is fixed across all participating households and annually updated to ensure it is equivalent to the 20% savings target.
Stipends will be provided via energy credits to subscriber’s energy bills or through ACH bank transfer in instances where energy bills cannot be otherwise credited. In limited instances, stipends may be provided through mailed checks.
NCEF will regularly provide subscriber households with information about opportunities to further reduce household energy costs. Resources could include residential energy audit incentives in addition to education about complementary upgrades and stacking other non-solar federal, state, and utility incentives.
Household Eligibility Criteria
Households must meet the following criteria to be eligible as a community solar subscriber:
- Households must be located in Nevada and must meet one of the following criteria:
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- Households located in a census tract identified as low-income and disadvantaged or
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- Households meeting at least one of the income qualification pathways in Table 1.
- Household must not have received financial assistance (i.e., loans, rebates, or cash/cash equivalent) from any other Nevada Solar for All program at the time of application. In addition, the household is the community solar subscriber, not the individual within the household that applies. A single household cannot subscribe to the program multiple times.
- Households must not be participating in other programs that provide solar benefits, such as NV Energy’s Expanded Solar Access Program.
- Households must not have solar on their home or property, and if they live in a single-family home, they must demonstrate that it is infeasible to have solar on the roof or property (the NSFA direct financing and lease programs can help single-family households explore solar installation options).
Table. 1 Pathways for income qualification
Applicants are required to submit address, income, and utility bill information when applying. Households are strongly encouraged to submit an application if they have any uncertainty or confusion about their eligibility. UWSN will review and confirm applicant eligibility based on the criteria noted in this document.
Timeline of Program
The anticipated period during which participating community solar subscriber households will receive monthly stipend payments under this program will be through April 2029.
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Accepted applicants may be placed on a waitlist prior to receiving monthly stipends. Accepted applicants that are placed on a waitlist will be first in line to begin to receive monthly stipends as each new NSFA community solar project begins operation.
Application
Ready to apply? Click here to go to the application, or visit http://uwsn.smapply.org/prog/NSFA
Questions or concerns about this program? Please call us at 702-892-2300 or email our team at CommunitySolar@uwsn.org