Commercial Real Estate Owners Looking to Solar Panels to Boost Revenues

It is no surprise that the past year has been a challenging one for many sectors of the economy, not least the owners of commercial real estate. However, some times good results can come from bad situations and this may be the case with commercial real estate.

The Financial Times ("Solar Power Boost for US Rental Outfits," Dec. 23, 2009) has reported that, "Real estate trusts are showing an increasing interest in renting roof space to companies and utilities that can install and manage solar panels on top of their buildings."

A number of real estate owners including ProLogis and AMB Property consider rooftop solar projects as significant business opportunities, according to the FT piece.

Paul Adornat, a BMO Capital Markets investment analyst, told the FT, "An industrial building can completely satisfy all of its electricity needs plus put some additional power back into the grid."