text: Solar energy conversion can impact not only just individual customers but whole communities. In a growing number of neighborhoods across America, the conventional model of independent, non-connected rooftop installations is being replaced by community-sized solar microgrids. The idea of “community solar” first became popular because of issues regarding energy storage. Because as of 2018 the wide-scale production of lithium-ion battery and other storage technologies lags the progress of rooftop PV installations, a main issue preventing a nationwide shift to rooftop solar energy generation is the lack of a reliable, single-home storage system that would provide contingencies for night-time energy use, cloud cover, curtailments and blackouts. Additionally, financing solar installations for single homes may be more difficult to secure given a smaller project scope and lack of access to funds. A viable alternative is to connect blocks of homes together in a community microgrid, using more proven large storage installations, thus lowering barriers to solar adoption. In some cases, a microgrid “web” is made by connecting each independent rooftop PV house to a greater storage facility. Other designs, primarily where rooftop installations are not possible, feature a large combined solar array + storage facility located on an adjacent field. As an added social impact, this form of installation makes solar energy economically viable for multi-family homes and historically low income neighborhoods.