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After a bright experience with a two-year pilot effort, the Garden State is establishing a permanent community solar program.

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities voted Aug. 16 to create the Community Solar Energy Program, which allows residents to access clean solar energy, regardless of their living situation.

The CSEP will allow for community solar projects up to 5 megawatts on rooftops, carports and canopies over impervious surfaces, contaminated sites and landfills, and certain bodies of water, such as treatment reservoirs and dredge ponds, NJBPU said.

Applications for a 225-megawatt capacity block for Energy Year 2024 are expected to open this November, according to the Board; a second application period will open for an additional 225 megawatts in EY 2025, which begins June 1, 2024.

The NJBPU said that new projects will be sited in all four major utility service territories.

According to the board, this year’s CSEP program will support enough projects to enroll approximately 30,000 subscribers.

“By building on the successes of our nation-leading Community Solar Program, we will continue to expand access among New Jersey families to the significant benefits of clean energy,” said Gov. Phil Murphy in a prepared statement.

Under the the pilot, the state has so far approved 150 projects totaling 243 megawatts of capacity. Of that total, NJBPU said 29 projects are in commercial operation — generating 50 megawatts and providing more than 6,000 New Jersey households with power. The department expects 97 additional sites to begin serving customers over the next several months.

In May, CS Energy began construction on a 10-megawatt project that will build a community solar array on a landfill that was closed for that purpose. Last month, Solar Landscape celebrated the connection of its 1.75-megawatt installation in Piscataway, which it says will help to power nearly 300 homes.

The community solar program expands access to the clean energy option to renters, people who don’t control their roofs, those living in a multifamily building, and residents who do not have areas suitable to support solar infrastructure or cannot afford the cost of installation.

That focus on advancing equity in the solar sector is built into the permanent CESP, as it was with the pilot program. According to NJBPU, all community solar projects must serve a minimum of 51% low and moderate subscribers, as measured by capacity subscribed.

In a statement, NJBPU President Joseph Fiordaliso said the permanent community solar effort would help more Garden State residents benefit from the state’s clean energy transition.

“At the heart of it, community solar is about unlocking access to clean energy for many residents, especially in low to moderate income communities and in urban areas where residential rooftop and ground mount solar are not possible,” he stated.

Wednesday’s vote also guarantees a minimum discount on utility bills for community solar subscribers.

Projects must state a guaranteed bill credit discount of no less than 15% in their registration, NJBPU said, which will apply for the duration of customers’ subscriptions. Offered discounts can be larger, including special incentives for LMI subscribers, and those projects with great discounts will receive priority if program capacity is exceeding during the initial registration period, the Board said.

Subscribers will receive the guaranteed discount for the portion of their electricity bill that is covered by their community solar subscription, typically 90% or more.