An invitation-only workshop hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy in May was an opportunity for IREC’s Mari Hernandez, regulatory program assistant director, to help shape the future of community solar. The purpose was to bring stakeholders together to share ideas on opportunities and barriers to community solar and potential strategies to move the market forward.

There was a particular focus on the themes of inclusivity, integration and innovation, and how the DOE Solar Energy Technologies Office could engage on these topics. Small group breakout sessions identified a list of critical topics under each theme. Each group of stakeholders then reported out on potential action plans for DOE to consider.

More details to come, as DOE digests the results of the workshop and reports out on next steps.