North Jersey homes can now get solar power without adding panels. Here’s how it works

North Jersey residents who want to lower their electricity bills by investing in solar power — without putting panels on their homes —– now have a chance thanks to a new state program.

The savings are made possible by the New Jersey Community Solar Energy Program. The initiative, which began last year, allows renters and homeowners to sign up for a portion of the power generated by solar installations on commercial rooftops around the Garden State.

With utility rates spiking this summer, officials in Westwood posted a letter to the community last week to tell residents about the option. While the Community Solar program includes multiple suppliers, the borough passed along a pitch made by one particular company, Asbury Park-based Solar Landscape.

“In light of PSEG’s intended 20% rate hikes, we opted to share the information with our residents, and we encourage all households to research the options and to make an informed decision,” Westwood officials said in the July 8 notice.

Solar Landscape, like other developers in the program, allows owners and renters to subscribe to individual clean energy projects, with participants eligible for credits to use on their electricity bills in return.

It’s an option for property owners who don’t want to install panels on their roofs, as well as renters or condominiums and co-op owners who can’t make the choice on their own. Over 13,000 PSEG customers are already enrolled in community solar projects with Solar Landscape, the company said.

Westwood solar project slated for 2026

A letter from Westwood officials said Solar Landscape is working on building a community solar project in Westwood and anticipates that it will be operational — “energized,” as the company puts it — in 2026. In the meantime, people can sign up for projects elsewhere in the state.

There is no cost associated with signing up, and the solar credits start appearing in utility bills within one to three billing cycles after a project is energized, a company representative said.

Solar Landscape bills itself as “the leading commercial and community solar developer in the United States.” It has deployed more than 400 megawatts of renewable energy projects, worth more than $1 billion in capital investments, and leased over 100 million square feet of commercial rooftops, the company said. 

“Your electric utility bills will include your discounted solar credits, which reduce what you owe on your electricity bill,” the company says in a “frequently asked questions” section of its website. “The discount will be 31% and will never change.”

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Residents can sign up with their PSE&G account number. Solar Landscape will assign “a share of a local solar project on a commercial rooftop based on your typical electricity usage,” the website says.

From there, the project “produces clean energy and delivers it to the grid, increasing the renewable energy available to your community,” the company explains. Solar credits are then added to the customers’ electric utility bill.

Interested parties sign a community solar contract with Solar Landscape, which can be canceled at any time. A PSE&G electricity customer who enrolls in a community solar project in July “can expect to save an average of nearly $500 per year,” the company says.

More information is available at the New Jersey Community Solar website. Information about Solar Landscape can be found at solarlandscape.com/nj/westwood.