PacNWPedaler

Oregon has community solar through PGE and Pacific Power but waitlists are long. I signed up for a PGE Clean Wind subscription as a placeholder while I'm on the community solar waitlist — not the same economics, but it's what a renter in a north-facing unit can actually do. The article's point about income-qualified access being an afterthought in most states tracks. Oregon isn't as bad as some but it's not Illinois.

Oregon has a self-certification path for residential solar under 10kW through many AHJs — it skips the full plan review and compresses the permit timeline significantly. Worth a five-minute call to your building department before you start the application. It saved me about six weeks on my 4kW install last year.

The winter output numbers are what I keep modeling for Portland. My 4kW array generates maybe 7–8kWh on a clear January day, which is almost nothing. How much does your generator actually run between November and February? That specific number is the one I can't find anywhere and it's what's holding me back from taking the full off-grid transition seriously.