Independence Entrepreneur Powers Rural Missouri With Community Solar

Josephine Marchetti-Lund spent years watching rural Missouri homeowners get quoted for rooftop solar installations only to walk away once they learned their roof orientation, tree cover, or aging electrical panel made the project impractical or unaffordable. That recurring frustration led her to found Truman Ridge Solar in Independence in 2018, building a community solar model that lets customers subscribe to power generated at a shared solar array rather than installing panels on their own homes.

"I got tired of telling people solar wasn't for them because of their roof," Marchetti-Lund said, walking the rows of panels at the company's newest array outside Independence. "Community solar means your roof was never the point in the first place."

A Subscription Model for Rural Power

Under Truman Ridge Solar's model, customers subscribe to a portion of a shared solar array's output and receive credits on their electric bills corresponding to their share of the power generated, without any equipment installed at their own property. Marchetti-Lund said the model has proven especially popular among renters and rural homeowners with older homes unsuited to rooftop installation.

"We had a customer who'd been quoted for a rooftop system twice and turned down both times because of shading issues," she said. "She signed up for a community solar subscription in about fifteen minutes and started saving on her bill the next month."

The company now operates three solar arrays across western Missouri, serving more than 2,400 subscribers, and has expanded its subscriber base steadily each year since its first array went online in 2020.

Navigating Utility and Regulatory Hurdles

Building a community solar business in Missouri required Marchetti-Lund to work closely with regional utility providers and navigate a regulatory landscape that, unlike some states, doesn't have a dedicated community solar program written into law. She said much of the company's early growth depended on negotiating individual agreements with utilities rather than relying on a standardized statewide framework.

"We had to build relationships and prove the model worked one utility territory at a time," Marchetti-Lund said. "It would be a lot easier with clearer state policy, but we didn't have the luxury of waiting for that."

Expanding Access Across the State

Truman Ridge Solar now employs 33 people, including a customer service team dedicated to helping subscribers understand billing credits, an area Marchetti-Lund said requires significant customer education since the concept remains unfamiliar to many rural Missourians. The company has also begun partnering with local nonprofits to subsidize subscriptions for lower-income households, a program that currently covers about 200 subscribers.

Marchetti-Lund is now working to develop a fourth array in southwest Missouri, part of a broader goal to make community solar subscriptions available within a reasonable distance of most rural Missouri households within the next five years. "Solar shouldn't require a perfect roof and a big upfront check," she said. "It should just be something you can sign up for."