Will Utilities Lease Rooftops of Commercial Buildings for Solar Power Generation?

Wednesday, May 4, 2016
Scott Merrell

Not every company is ready to go solar, even though they may have the rooftop space for solar panels. The good news is that you can still profit from that solar-ready space, as utilities are now starting to lease out rooftop space for solar projects.

Cedars Sinai Solar

Third-party leasing of rooftops or other spaces for solar arrays is a growing trend. Last month, for instance, Energy Manager Today posted a blog about a project being run by Soltage, LLC. The company is providing Quinsigamond Community College in West Brookfield, MA with about 2.4 MWh of energy. The 5,800 photovoltaic panels generating the energy are 25 miles away in Worcester, MA.

To date, these creative net-metering arrangements have largely been the work of entrepreneurial companies. That may change, however. Roy Palk, the Senior Energy Advisor for the law firm of LeClairRyan, thinks that the utilities are set to more actively participate in these this sector. “I thought about utilities getting more involved and embracing commercial rooftop solar,” he said. “Rather than utilities fighting rooftop solar, why don’t they go out and lease rooftops as if they were buying or leasing ground?”

The company leasing the rooftops can make money from these arrangements. “They have an additional revenues stream, instead of an empty roof on top of the building,” Palk said. “The second is if they are in a state where net-metering is allowed…they can sell what they don’t use back to the grid.”

Read the rest at EnergyManagerToday.com

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