According to reporting from WBUR, the town council of Watertown, Massachusetts unanimously voted to approve a zoning ordinance requiring commercial real estate developers to put solar on new buildings. 

The zoning ordinance applies to commercial buildings greater than 10,000 square feet, that are either new construction or building renovations. 

Photo Credit: Town of Watertown

WBUR spoke to Vincent Piccirilli, vice president of the town council, who stated: 

"It grew out of concern with all the development in Watertown," he said, "that we really should be doing more to require developers to do something to help the environment, particular with solar energy generation."

 

This new ordinance comes off the tail winds of California's statewide mandate for solar on all new construction residential buildings and is an exciting trend that the solar industry hopes to see spread across the United States. 

Note from Breiter Planet Properties

For all real estate developers and subcontractors facing similar ordinances in your jurisdiction, Breiter Planet Properties is here to help establish the best priced and qualified contractor for the project.

Many of the real estate developers that we have worked with have worked with have pursued a solar as a service model which satisfies the solar mandate without impacting the financials of the development project. This model is where a third party finances and owns the solar asset and then allows the tenants to purchase the electricity from the system. Another option, depending on local incentives, could be leasing the roof to us, and allowing us to install solar on the site and sell the electricity to the local community. 

Ultimately, we know solar is confusing and we are here to help anyone facing solar mandates on their project and are unsure of the best path to navigate through for the project.