Signing up

Once you complete all signup steps, Perch reviews your information and verifies your eligibility. If approved, we get to work! We’ll identify the right nearby solar farm for you that has availability, we’ll coordinate with the owner and utility to get you subscribed, and thoroughly explain the process at every step so you know what to expect. Definitely keep an eye on your inbox after signing up!

We analyze your historical electricity usage to understand how many credits you’ll need each month from your solar farm. States typically allow for higher electricity users to get a larger “share” of the farm’s energy output, bringing them additional savings, since their bills are higher from the start. But low electricity users can still save! Perch needs to see your historical usage before we can assign you to a solar farm.

With community solar, you receive credits directly off your electricity bill, reducing what you owe your utility company. You then pay for those credits via a separate bill from Perch—less than their total value, so you net out with savings. We pass this along to the solar farm owner to support its clean energy generation. For example, if your subscription generates $100 credit off your utility bill, you might separately pay $90 to Perch, toward the solar farm*. You net out with $10 savings that month.

*In most states, you’ll pay Perch via a separate bill that arrives after your utility bill. For certain projects in Illinois and some projects in New York, this payment happens directly through your utility account. Savings rates vary by state and customer eligibility factors. In these instances, you will not receive a bill from Perch.

Nope! Neither your utility nor electricity supplier will change with community solar.

In some areas, you may not be able to join your community solar program right away. There may not be a space open on a local solar farm, or it could still be under construction or in the process of getting connected to the electric grid. It’s also possible there are no solar farms built yet in your area, but one may be in development. Because Perch works closely with solar developers and project owners, we often know in advance when new opportunities are coming. If you’re put on a waitlist, it means there’s likely to be a community solar spot opening soon—and Perch will reach out once it’s ready for you to subscribe!