February 20, 2020
Community solar in NYC is a natural fit—as many buildings have dozens of electric meters and limited rooftop space to accommodate a physical solar panel installation. Community solar is an item that everyone in the solar industry fell in love with right away. The more complex aspects of the community solar model made for a slow start as the regulations kicked off in 2015, but now in 2020 we are starting to see projects get built.
How can you participate in NYC as a Community Solar stakeholder?
Become a host, EPC, investor or subscriber.
Hosting Community Solar
Hosting a community solar project in NYC typically means leasing out your roof space, or parking lot, to a solar developer like YSG Solar. YSG would enter into a lease agreement for a period of 20 years, with a fixed dollar amount that usually has an escalator to account for inflation. The roof lease agreement allows the developer a period of 6-9 months to develop the rooftop solar project. Negotiating and executing a roof lease agreement can be a big task—these agreements can be a fifty-sixty page document. The lease agreements have a lot of languages that cannot be adjusted due to the fact that we must have protection for our tax equity investors and lenders. Without a tax equity investment projects cannot get built—and they usually hold the most leverage on any renewable energy deal.
Community Solar EPCs
EPCs are the parties involved with engineering, procuring and constructing the rooftop or carport solar facility. Electrical contractors are required for all of the high-voltage and medium-voltage connections for the solar equipment. Mechanical contractors are the entity responsible for installing the structure to hold the solar panels, and mount the solar panels themselves. This may be directly onto the roof structure itself or on a steel structure that is assembled into a carport.
YSG Community Solar
YSG Solar is a project development vehicle—we are responsible for commoditizing energy infrastructure projects. We work with long-term owners and operators to provide clean energy assets with stable, predictable cash flows. YSG's market focus is distributed generation and utility-scale projects located within North America.
Community solar is simple and straightforward when you work with a reputable developer like YSG Solar. Contact YSG Solar today to learn how you could get involved and start saving money right away. We take care of the entire process from start to finish, streamlining the community solar model for you. Send us an email, or call at 212.389.9215 to learn more.