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After your subscription is approved, you will be put on a wait list for a to-be-constructed solar garden. Subscribers are placed into solar gardens on a first-come-first-served basis.

Once you have been assigned to a to-be-built solar garden, there is typically a 6 – 12 month construction time frame. While your solar garden is being built, SunShare will provide helpful information regarding your SunShare subscription, including important information about billing, how to set up automatic payments, and the expected date for when your garden will become live.

Disturbances like a storm can affect your utility provider’s grid and the delivery of electricity to your home. And, because our solar energy is distributed onto your utility provider’s grid, the chances of your power going out are just as likely as they were before subscribing.

Your utility will continue to deliver you electricity, and you will only pay for the amount of energy the garden produces within your subscription. If the panels do not produce electricity for any reason, such as a natural disaster, massive snow storm, equipment malfunction, etc., you will not be charged. If the garden’s production decreases for any reason, you will simply receive a smaller bill from SunShare, and receive fewer energy credits from your utility provider. If the garden stops producing altogether, you will not receive a bill from SunShare or see solar credits on your electricity bill until the solar garden is back up and running.

As long as you are within the service territory, SunShare moves with you. If you move out of the service territory, your subscription can be cancelled with a 60-day notice with no penalty to you.

You will continue to pay SunShare for the energy produced by your subscription and contributed to Xcel Energy’s grid, and Xcel Energy will continue to reimburse you in the form of solar credits. Since you will not be using as much energy as you have in the past, you will likely cover the entirety of your Xcel Energy bill with solar credits and even have excess credits which will roll over each month. If you still have excess credits at the end of the year, Xcel Energy will issue reimbursement checks in March for the previous year.

Detailed plan summary

Billing: Once your community solar garden is active, you'll receive two (2) bills every month ─
one from SunShare and one from Xcel Energy. The net difference of the two bills will always be
$0!
Eligibility: Your participation requires either Autopay Enrollment or a Credit Check. If you have
elected Credit Check, the check will be performed upon receipt of your signed documents. If you
have elected Autopay, you will be automatically enrolled in Autopay for your first SunShare bill
after you have been placed into a community solar garden.
Agreement Term: The length of your SunShare agreement is simply the length of the
agreement between SunShare and Xcel Energy to deliver solar energy onto the power grid.
This is also the length of time for which you are guaranteed to receive Bill Credits from Xcel
Energy on your utility bill.
SunShare Community Solar Rate and Bill Credit Rate: These two rates are the same, but
you will receive two separate bills. The SunShare Community Solar Rate is the rate you will pay
to SunShare for each kilowatt hour of electricity the community solar garden generates on your
behalf. The Bill Credit Rate is the rate you will receive on your Xcel Energy utility bill for each
kilowatt hour of electricity the community solar garden generates on your behalf. Typically, the
bill credit rate changes every year, and your community solar rate will be adjusted to match it.
Regardless of the Bill Credit rate, your total out-of-pocket net cost will always be $0!
Cancellation Options: You can cancel with 90 days’ prior written notice with no penalty.