Can Renters Be Energy Independent?

More and more, people want to use clean energy. 

According to the Pew Research Center, 74% of Americans support international efforts to reduce the effects of climate change and 67% of US adults prioritize alternative energy. That sentiment is borne out in actions too, with homeowners installing rooftop solar panels and buying electric vehicles at record rates. 

But the adoption of clean energy technologies is much easier for some than for others. 

If you live on the fifth floor of a 12-story building, you can’t put solar panels above your head. If you rent your house and can’t convince the owner to let you install an EV charging setup, you’re not filling up that battery quickly. If your landlord handles the major appliances, good luck switching to an energy efficient heat pump. 

So what are the options for those who want to do their part to combat climate change, access cheaper renewable energy or work toward removing themselves from the energy grid? And what’s standing in their way?

Renters face barriers to energy independence

The plight of American renters isn’t a niche topic. More than 30% of the occupied housing units in the US are occupied by renters, not owners, according to the Census Bureau. 

And being a renter doesn’t just mean you lack control of your home’s energy choices. It usually means you have less money to put toward what things you can do to save energy or fight climate change. Renters paid 29% of their income toward housing in 29%, according to research by the Urban Institute. Homeowners paid just 17%. And the wealth gap between homeowners and renters is massive.

Conversations about sustainability and the energy grid are often far removed from the priorities of most renters. And investments from those who do own that housing can lead to negative outcomes. 

Matthew Gonzalez is the interim executive director of the Four Corners Clean Energy Alliance and executive director of the southwest branches of the Consumer Energy Alliance and HBW Resources. Based in New Mexico, he often works to find energy solutions for lower income households and renters, and he said he approaches the issue carefully. 

“I’m always cautious if someone is renting,” he said. “I know that if their landlord can afford to upgrade, a lot of the times that means triggering their rents to go up. So while it makes it more energy efficient and now they’re paying less on their energy bill, they may be paying more on their rent bill.”

Gonzalez, who previously worked as a village administrator and as director of government affairs for the New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau, said one of the biggest factors driving the adoption of solar energy is incentives from the federal, state and local level. 

But those incentives aren’t designed for renters. They’re typically aimed at people with higher incomes and homes of their own, which has fostered an attitude among renters that they aren’t part of that process. 

“A lot of the time, (incentives) end up very narrow and then you have to spend a lot of time reworking and fixing it, which is a policy job,” he said. “If you end up with programs that don’t work immediately or the way they were intended, you need to continue to revamp them and rework them and make sure everyone has a seat at the table in that process. But it’s hard to get people to the table because if they don’t get their way, they bow out and stop being part of the conversation. It’s a really tough space for policymakers to be in.” 

The possibilities of community solar 

Even if you can’t put a solar panel on your roof, you still may be able to access solar energy. 

Community solar programs are springing up around the country, offering an alternative to panels placed on the building they power. These programs use large arrays of panels on solar farms and are funded by subscribers who purchase a share of the power they generate. They’re often owned by nonprofit organizations, third-party companies or utilities themselves, and many offer energy at a discounted price. 

Matt Hargarten, vice president of campaigns for the Coalition for Community Solar Access, said most Americans can’t access rooftop solar. 

“You’ve got this great proliferation of rooftop solar, where customers put panels on their roof and then they lower their bill and sell that energy back to the grid to create a more carbon neutral grid,” he said. “Well, 75% of the country couldn’t do that, because they either don’t have a bunch of cash in the bank account, a good enough credit score to finance panels, don’t own their home in the first place or they live in nature that doesn’t allow it.” 

In many communities, Hargarten said, community solar incentive programs are aimed at increased adoption of solar energy in the same way that rooftop solar incentives are. But community solar programs seem to know their audience. Many programs prioritize access to those with lower incomes, the majority of whom are renters. 

“We’re seeing in a lot of states, 30%, 40%, 50%, even 60% of all subscriptions need to be directed toward people who meet the income thresholds of low to moderate income,” he said. “They’re using community solar as a tool to improve what’s referred to as energy equity -- people who have a higher percentage of their money going to energy bills. They’re able to use community solar as a tool to reduce that energy burden, and that’s pretty interesting.” 

Community solar agreements tend to be more flexible than you might suspect, often lead to savings and work toward a cleaner world. The only drawback? They aren’t available everywhere -- yet. 

Other alternatives for renters

Without community access to solar panels, there are still a few options for renters who are trying to use clean energy or disconnecting some parts of their lives from the traditional fossil fuel-powered grid. 

Here are a few ways renters can work toward those goals: 

Technology at home: It may not be a revolutionary change, but adopting cleaner and more efficient technology around the house can make a difference for both your wallet and your use of renewables. 

“If someone comes into my office [looking for advice], I would say definitely look at changing out some of your appliances, if you can,” Gonzalez said. 

From low-energy light bulbs and appliances to efficient dishwashers and water heaters, almost everything in your home that uses electricity can be upgraded to a version that’s better for the environment -- assuming your landlord approves the change. 

Portable solar panels: If you can’t put a panel on your roof and you can’t connect to community solar, you still may be able to get some of your energy from the sun. 

Portable solar systems, while not nearly as powerful as their rooftop counterparts, can power some household items like cell phones and other electronics, removing your dependence on the grid. 

Electric vehicles: If cleaner energy is your goal, electric vehicles are an excellent way of reducing your carbon footprint. EVs are more affordable than ever, and charging infrastructure is catching up. 

But even as they become more widely adopted, EVs could stand to improve their accessibility, especially for those who are on the lower end of the income spectrum.

“There are a lot of good EV incentives if you’re the first person buying that vehicle,” Gonzalez said. “But for a lot of working families, they’re looking on the used car market. There aren’t incentives there.” 

What does the future hold?  

As confidence in the country’s power grid declines, more and more people will seek to remove themselves from that grid, whether for environmentally conscious reasons or thanks to concerns over reliability. 

But will they be able to? Gonzalez is optimistic but knows there’s a long road ahead. 

“The people who are going to come off the grid are, frankly, the ones that can afford it,” he said. “I don’t know that it’s even cost-effective for anyone who’s renting at this point to be able to get off the grid. You’re definitely going to want to have solar panels and battery storage and those types of things, but it’s really, really hard for a person who’s a renter to be able to get to that point.” 

For Hargarten, the solution to that particular problem is community solar. And if more programs can pop up around the country, that option may begin to look more appealing as solar adoption continues to be incentivized, especially among those who need the most help. 

“I think we’re going to see, in the years ahead, most community solar projects having some sort of carve-out or requirement to serve lower income customers,” he said.