Lease Your Rooftop for Solar Energy

Solar power — By Stephanie on September 10, 2008 at 12:07 pm

For at least a decade, real estate owners have been leasing the prime space on top of their buildings to utilities. One of the most popular uses for the vast, unused space is to lease roof area to telecommunications companies for installation of antennas, batteries and other equipment for cellular communications. The same can now be accomplished for rooftop solar energy proponents looking for space on which to install solar panels and supporting equipment.

In California, the dream is becoming a reality. California Public Utilities Commission, Southern California Edison (SCE), and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger are working to promote the use of empty roof space of commercial buildings for installation of rooftop solar energy technology equipment, including solar panels. Governor Schwarzenegger is envisioning a future in which, as he says, “commercial buildings statewide partnered with utilities …[will put] this solar technology on their rooftops, [and] it would set off a huge wave of renewable-energy growth.” Here is an example of how solar energy is working in the Golden State.

The California solar initiative encourages utilities to develop partnerships with area commercial property owners. By providing the opportunity for supplementary revenue through rent, vacant rooftops may be considered an important asset to increase property value. In turn, the utilities obtain the use of prime space for generation of rooftop solar energy without taking up ground space for equipment, or being concerned about appropriate utility zoning of bare land. Not only is it a win-win for the owners and utility companies, but its a home run for the environment.

Photo from Flickr (Union Station Rooftop): http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmv/10224295/

Tags: commercial real estate, solar energy, solar panels, Solar power, solar roof

3 Comments

Mahmoud Kabalan says:

September 11, 2008 at 3:08 am

This is a great idea! Imagine a city with all its rooftops having PV modules. This step by California proves that the world is moving from huge centralized energy production centers towards a more distributed one.
John says:

March 31, 2010 at 8:46 am

http://leaseyourrooftop.com – Lease Your Rooftop
Naomi says:

June 29, 2010 at 4:24 am

California Utility companies aren’t the only players in this market leasing rooftop space. Independent power producers are also in the game. Not to mention Urban Agriculture companies as well.

Commercial, MultiFamily, Agricultural (Barn and Ranch), Warehouse (like you mention in this article), Institutional and Industrial rooftops are needed for distributed energy and urban agriculture.

To find out more how all of these rooftops can be turned into revenue sources, you can go to http://www.seglet.com.

Typically, these are not straight leases, but involve a sq. foot lease rate (varies between &0.30 and $1/sq foot) coupled with another form of creative compensation such as profit sharing (of the energy or food produced on the roof), or selling the energy and food to the building owner directly at a reduced and set price for a number of years.