There’s an episode of “Seinfeld” where Elaine is eager to try the Pizza Hut pizza with mozzarella cheese stuffed in the crust. When met with skepticism, she replies, “It’ll be years before they find places to hide more cheese on a pizza.”

With votes and pen strokes, state regulators and legislators are finding places to put more solar. What is interesting about the vast majority of community solar gardens that rulemaking is enabling all over the U.S. is how indistinguishable it will be from mid-range ground-mount and large rooftop arrays that have arisen in response to other incentives and market demands. At the same time, community solar is tapping into entirely new consumer markets and attracting new capital investments.

The attraction of community solar from a consumer standpoint is that ratepayers do not have to host the arrays to benefit from the energy. These are customers that otherwise would not have access to solar. The utility - public, investor-owned or cooperative - is content because it can select sites that serve the demands of its electricity distribution system while satisfying state mandates and customer needs. The capital investment that solar gardens attract is supporting the industry while chasing new markets.

The community solar movement - and the success in Colorado and expansion into Minnesota and elsewhere justifies the term “movement” - has given rise to a rather new form of solar entrepreneur: one who essentially brings a market segment into being.

Community solar waits on rules to make it possible. What is interesting about the new companies and new partnerships coming into the community solar space is how many of them have personnel who had a hand in the crafting of those rules. Whether they were on staff in a non-community capacity or working with a friendly nonprofit, these individuals put their time and expertise into the meticulous job of helping legislators and regulatory bodies craft the rules that would enable their nascent market sector to take off.

Intriguingly, once the rules have been crafted and the approval process begins, the rulemaking entrepreneur is out finding sites, wooing investors and lining up subscribers.

There are a lot of smart people in this industry. I bet it won’t take years to find more places to put solar.