A Guide to Nexamp Community Solar

Who is Nexamp?

Nexamp is a U.S.-based clean energy company founded in 2007 by two U.S. Army veterans, with a mission to make solar energy accessible, affordable, and community-oriented.

Nexamp develops, owns, and manages community solar farms (as well as related assets) across multiple states. Its business model is vertically integrated: from development and financing, through construction to ongoing operation and customer subscription management.

Nexamp Provider Score

• Product Offering 5/5: Nexamp offers integrated advanced energy storage solutions and is expanding its community solar model into new markets to help a broader range of customers access renewable energy.
• Customer Support 4.5/5: This community solar provider offers high support through blog articles, easy customer support channels, and additional resources.
• History and Outreach 5/5: Nexamp has collaborated with state and local governments to remove barriers to entry for lower-income communities, implemented green best practices, such as recycling programs for construction waste and the retirement of solar panels.
• Customer Reviews 4/5: Nexamp has been featured in PV Magazine USA, Solar Power World, and Electrek, which specialize in the clean energy and solar industries. They have earned a 4.5-star review on Trustpilot, highlighting how powerful their tools for billing and utility usage data are for saving money and energy.

What is Community Solar

The first community solar farms emerged in 2006, and today they are the fastest-growing segment of the solar industry. They allow everyone to benefit from solar power without installing panels or equipment.

Community solar is when a group of people shares electricity from a local solar farm. The model allows multiple customers, such as individuals, businesses, and nonprofits, to benefit from a solar project within a specific region. Customers subscribe to solar panels located off-site. They receive a credit on their electric bill for the electricity produced by the portion of the community solar they own.

Why Enroll with Nexamp?

Enrolling in a Nexamp community solar share, you will receive discounts on your monthly electricity bill in the form of credits. You will also be supporting the deployment of clean, renewable solar power instead of fossil-fuel electricity generation. Furthermore, you will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by increasing the share of your electricity that comes from solar sources. Your participation contributes to local environmental benefits, including cleaner air, reduced reliance on long transmission lines, and, in some cases, improved land use around solar farms, such as maintaining native pollinator vegetation.

By choosing Nexamp, you are helping drive job creation in your state, as Nexamp’s expansion financing in recent years has created thousands of construction and operations jobs where new solar and battery storage plants are being built. Finally, because you are subscribing to a “share” of a solar array nearby rather than installing panels yourself, there are no upfront costs, no installation on your roof, and no maintenance responsibilities.

How Nexamp’s Community Solar Program Works

Here’s a step-by-step of how it works for a subscriber:

1. Check availability in your ZIP Code or utility territory. If there is an open community solar farm you can join, Nexamp will assign you a share based on your electrical usage.
2. Subscription to a solar share (sometimes called “shares”, “panels”, “allocation”, or “solar credits”) in a community solar farm. That share produces solar energy that is fed into the grid.
3. Utility credits go to your bill: Your share of solar energy produces energy credits. These credits appear as a negative line item on your utility bill, reducing what you owe to your utility.
4. You pay Nexamp for those credits: After your utility credit is applied, Nexamp sends you an invoice for those same credits—but at a discounted rate (i.e., less than their full value), so the net result is still a lower combined cost than before enrolling.
5. Savings accumulate over time: Because solar production fluctuates with seasons, your monthly credits will vary. But unused credits roll over, so over the course of a year, you should see overall savings in the range of about 10-15% on your electricity costs.
6. Flexibility: There are no upfront installation costs, no long-term contracts in many cases, no cancellation fees, and you can often adjust your subscription. If you move, Nexamp has provisions for what happens next (eligibility in new location, etc.).

Does Nexamp Serve Your State?

Nexamp currently offers community solar programs or has active projects are under development in Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Illinois and Virginia. Depending on regulations, utility service areas, and project timelines, availability may vary even within these states. You’ll need to check your ZIP code or utility to see whether there is capacity to join a local solar farm.

How Billing Works

Understanding how Nexamp will bill you is important so that the savings are clear and transparent. The most confusing aspect of a community solar program is that most customers will now receive two bills. One from your utility and one from Nexamp.

With community solar, you will be required to pay for a percentage of the credits based on the energy production of your solar farm. But it is important to note that you will pay less than what your credits are worth (less than the discount you got off of your utility bill) and credits are not seen until 1-3 after your bill.

For example, if you earned $100 credit discount off of your April utility bill, you will pay your community solar provider for 90% of that, or $90 in June. Nexamp passes along that money to the solar farm owner, and you net out with $10 savings, just not during the same month.

This example bill scenario is for a resident on a 10% savings project. Savings rates will vary by state and eligibility factors.

• You will usually receive the utility bill first with the credits applied, then Nexamp issues its invoice for those credits (after confirming the utility applied them correctly).
• In most states, you will pay your community solar provider 1-3 months after your share becomes live and credits begin appearing on your utility bill. In certain states, payment will happen directly through your utility bill. So check your contract for these state-specific details.
• Since solar production is dependent on weather, daylight, and seasons, monthly credits will fluctuate accordingly. In high-production months, credits may be more than you need; in lower months, you may not cover all usage with credits. However, unused credits often roll over.

Should You Consider Nexamp Community Solar?

If you:

• Live in one of the states above,
• Want to reduce your electricity costs without installing solar yourself,
• Prefer avoiding upfront costs or rooftop panel challenges,
• Can stay with your current REP or find a favorable one,

… then Nexamp community solar is likely a good option for you.

These factors, combined with an average savings of 10-15%, make community solar an easy and hassle-free way to save on your monthly electricity bill.

Head over to our community solar page if you’d like to explore more information about community solar programs.