Dive Brief:

• Solar Landscape has completed community solar installations atop two warehouse rooftops owned by Heitman Capital Management in Monroe Township and South Brunswick, New Jersey, according to a Nov. 30 release. 
• The Monroe Township installation is New Jersey’s largest completed rooftop community solar project. The two installations will provide a combined capacity of nearly 8.8 megawatts, the release said. 
• The completion marks ongoing growth for Solar Landscape, which recently partnered with self-storage firm Public Storage to introduce over 130 rooftop community solar projects across the U.S.

Dive Insight:

Community solar projects consist of agreements where local utilities pay solar providers for the energy the installations generate, and subscribers receive a portion of that value as a credit that is applied to their electric bill, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The model provides building owners and local households with the benefits of solar energy, even if they are not able to host a system on their own roof, enabling hosts to finance renewable energy projects and reduce their energy bills. 

Currently, 43 states and the District of Columbia have community solar projects, with at least 22 states and the district passing legislation that encourages or mandates community solar in these jurisdictions, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. 

As part of that push, Solar Landscape has tripled its growth over the past two years, currently employing over 150 people, with more than 250 MW of solar projects built and 150 MW operating and under construction, according to PV Magazine. The company’s partnership with Public Storage, announced in August, will further drive that expansion and result in 133 community solar installations across New Jersey, Maryland and Illinois. Solar Landscape said the partnership projects represent 13% of its commitment to install solar on more than 1,000 properties by 2025. 

In New Jersey, the 23-MW community solar partnership will include 32 Public Storage sites. Solar Landscape said that its newest installation will promote energy equity by providing more than 1,400 nearby homes with discounted solar energy, with more than half of them low- or moderate-income households. 

The current project’s completion coincides with the state’s Board of Public Utilities launching its second attempt to solicit solar project costs at a price the agency considered acceptable to ratepayers through its CSI Program.

The solicitation is in line with the New Jersey BPU’s vote in August to permanently establish its community solar program following a two-year pilot program. New York state also completed its largest solar rooftop project to date in July, installing 17,000 panels atop the roof of Medline Industries’ distribution center in Montgomery. 

“Community solar has proven to be an equitable, cost-effective way of providing clean and renewable energy to our most vulnerable residents of New Jersey, helping both lower customer utility costs and help our state reach our goal of 100% renewable energy by 2035,” New Jersey state senator Linda Greenstein said in the release.