SolShare is the only technology in the world that shares rooftop solar with multiple apartments in the same building.SolShare provides a solution for apartment building residents who want the environmental and economic benefits of rooftop solar and does not require changes to the existing electricity supply and metering infrastructure. Previous SolShare installations have proven to save up to 40% on electricity bills.
"Our team is excited to work with the Mississippi Public Service Commission and the Belhaven Residential team to lead Mississippi's transition to clean, affordable energy," said Aliya Bagewadi, director of strategic partnerships for Allume Energy USA. "By providing Jackson residents with additional evidence of SolShare technology, we are demonstrating a scalable model for more equitable access to the environmental and economic benefits of multifamily residential solar."
Technologies and programs that expand access to technologies like SolShare can reduce utility bills and decarbonize multifamily housing, which is especially important for low-income tenants. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, low-income residents in Mississippi currently bear the highest energy burden in the nation - 12 percent of their total income. Most households in the South have electric heating and cooling systems in their homes. Although Entergy Mississippi's electricity prices are among the lowest in the nation, these factors and the region's high temperatures have led to increased energy use, resulting in a higher energy burden.
Mississippi currently ranks 35th in the nation in solar energy adoption, and Allume and its partners believe installations like 805 Madison Street will serve as a scalable model to spread the benefits of clean technology and cost savings to more low-income residents in the Southeast.
"SolShare is the only hardware technology in the world that can split a solar array into multiple meters," Mel Bergsneider, Allume's executive account manager, told Canary Media. the first technology to be certified by Underwriters Laboratories as a "power distribution control system" - a category of technology created specifically to match SolShare's capabilities.
This unit-by-unit accuracy is far from standard for multi-tenant solar projects, primarily because it is difficult to achieve. Connecting individual solar panels and inverters to individual apartments is both expensive and impractical. The alternative - connecting solar to the property's master meter and producing it equally among tenants - is effectively "virtual net metering" in some permitted markets such as California or other methods that allow landlords and tenants to get credit for utilities from inaccurate electricity split up.
But that approach doesn't work in many other markets, such as Mississippi, which has the lowest rooftop solar adoption rate in the country, Bergsneider said. Mississippi's net metering regulations do not include a virtual net metering option and offer customers relatively low payments for the electricity output from rooftop solar systems to the grid. This increases the value of technologies that can match solar energy as closely as possible to on-site energy use to replace power purchased from the utility, Bergsneider said, adding that SolShare is designed for just this scenario. Solar self-use is the heart and soul of the SolShare system.
