Energy, Oil & Gas Magazine Issue 224 Jan 2025 | Page 115

______________________________________________________________________________________________ Solar
Landscape
Job creation : By meeting America ’ s growing energy needs quickly , Solar Landscape is hiring and training the clean energy workforce of the future
meter installations , particularly on rooftops , offer a more scalable solar solution than traditional behind-the-meter projects . In this new market , Solar Landscape proved very successful ; we captured a third of the available capacity in the state and continued to invest and expand in that space . We also moved into other markets , including Maryland , Illinois , Minnesota , Pennsylvania , New York , and Massachusetts , and have now leased over 150 million square feet of rooftop for solar . In 2024 , we
Mark Schottinger secured $ 847 million in project financing , supporting roughly 200 projects , demonstrating the confidence in this model ,” said Schottinger . “ The future pipeline is enormous as commercial and industrial real estate owners are eager to lease their rooftops for solar , presenting untapped opportunities to generate electricity for the grid ,” he added .
Extended benefits
Solar Landscape ’ s approach has revolutionized the pairing of commercial rooftops and America ’ s energy grid by establishing a novel network of distributed generation sources . “ Behind-the-meter projects require working with building owners through power purchase agreements ( PPAs ), which involve the building tenant purchasing electricity from the solar system . However , managing PPAs can be complex , and we found that real estate owners prefer to focus on leasing space rather than managing energy matters ,” Schottinger explained . “ The size of a behind-the-meter project is also limited by the electricity needs of each building . For example , a dry storage warehouse may only need to cover about 20 percent of its roof in solar to meet its energy needs . For these reasons , behind-themeter roof solar was not very scalable .”
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