Transcript:
At a self-storage facility in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, row after row of storage units are blanketed with solar panels.
Steve Potter is with Extra Space Storage, which owns the facility. He says buildings like storage facilities, big box stores, and warehouses often have huge, open rooftops that can be ideal for solar.
Using that space for solar can be especially valuable near urban areas, where vacant land is scarce.
Potter: “You’re not eating up that ground to put solar panels on. You’re using space that’s already being used for something else.”
His company has installed solar panels on more than 800 of its facilities to offset the buildings’ electricity use.
But at Egg Harbor and eight other New Jersey facilities, Extra Space Storage leases its rooftops to Solar Landscape, a company that runs community solar projects.
The arrangement gives Extra Space Storage another source of revenue while helping provide affordable clean energy to local households.
Potter: “It makes us a good community partner, and people want to be involved with us for a longer period of time.”
So the sprawling rooftops of commercial buildings can be used to offset companies’ own energy needs and help increase community access to solar energy.
Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
