National Storage Affiliates Trust on how Solar Landscape deal will grow its clean energy footprint

A new partnership between Solar Landscape and National Storage Affiliates Trust (NSA) for rooftop solar developments is expected to increase NSA’s solar footprint by at least five times its current output, officials from NSA said in a recent interview with NPM.

NSA, the Colorado-based storage real estate investment corporation, announced a new agreement with solar development firm Solar Landscape in August that tasks the clean energy company with building out at least 100 MW of solar capacity across 8.5 million square feet of rooftop space on NSA properties.

That will result in a massive increase in NSA’s current rooftop solar output, company officials told NPM in an interview.

“It's significant because 100 megawatts would translate to somewhere between 100 to 150 sites, while we currently only have approximately 20 facilities with solar arrays today,” NSA Vice President of Investor Relations George Hoglund said. “This would significantly increase our solar footprint.”

Solar Landscape Executive Vice President of Engagement Brendon Shank offered a different perspective about the scope of the new partnership.

“8.5 million square feet is more than two Disneyland parks,” Shank said in a recent interview.

Through the partnership, Solar Landscape will have exclusive rights to evaluate about 1,000 NSA properties in 42 states and Puerto Rico for community solar projects, which makes up a “vast majority” of the company’s portfolio, according to Hoglund. Size, building layout and geographic location will all be factors assessed by Solar Landscape, Shank said.

“We have sophisticated ways of assessing these rooftops to determine which are most viable, in terms of efficiently generating clean energy,” Shank said. “We're looking at 42 states --- not all of those have existing community solar programs, but it’s possible that they’re in the works, so we'll definitely be looking at the full swath of those states to see where we can generate that energy.”

Hoglund said NSA’s properties vary in size, but the average building is about 65,000 square feet. Many sites include several of those average-size facilities, Hoglund said.

Solar installations on NSA rooftops will provide discounted power to nearby homes and businesses. The projects, requiring no capital expenditure by NSA, will be developed, owned, and operated by Solar Landscape, which will make monthly lease payments to NSA.

Hoglund called the benefits of the partnership two-fold for NSA: the company is doing its part to provide discounted clean energy to the areas around its facilities while also generating income through leasing the rooftops.

“There's no capital commitment and no work commitment on our end,” Hoglund said. “We're providing the rooftops, we sign a lease agreement, and it generates incremental revenue for NSA.”

Because NSA facilities are typically close to neighborhoods, Shank said their buildings are good fits for community solar projects.

“I think it’s a huge step forward for community solar,” Shank said. “100 MW is huge in terms of the amount of clean energy we’ll be putting into the grid.”

Load pockets, or densely populated areas where it can be hard to generate energy, are good spots for these projects, Shank said.

“You can't put a power generating plant in the middle of a neighborhood, but you can do community solar in a neighborhood, because there are buildings like NSAs,” Shank said. “Densely populated places that don't have opportunities for generating power but need it are good places to start.”

Development on the first sites within the partnership has already begun, the two companies said, specifically in New Jersey where Solar Landscape is already most active. Hoglund and Shank said other states with strong community solar programs could be next.

It could take between two to three years before a meaningful number of projects are up and running, Hoglund said. Shank said that when approvals are given, Solar Landscape can work fast.

“When you are looking at a roof, we can say, ‘I can get a crew over there and put up solar panels without a lot of the other logistical hitches that community solar on open space brings. That is why this is America's most ‘shovel-ready’ type of clean energy project,” Shank said.

*This story was originally published exclusively for NPM subscribers last month.

NPM US (New Project Media) is a leading data, intelligence and events company dedicated to providing origination led coverage of the renewable energy market for the development, finance, advisory & corporate community.