By Joshua Burd
Solar Landscape is planning a massive expansion of what is already the nation’s largest pipeline of rooftop solar projects for commercial buildings, having secured $847 million in project investment and financing in 2024.
The Asbury Park-based firm said the combination of debt, equity and tax equity — its largest ever capital raise for a single year — will allow it to deploy more than 200 commercial rooftop solar installations across the country. That’s enough to power more than 50,000 households, Solar Landscape said, thanks to participation from the likes of KeyState Renewables, Silicon Valley Bank, Prologis Inc. and Walmart.
The 12-year-old company also announced this week that it has leased an unprecedented 40 million square feet of commercial rooftop space across the U.S. in 2024.
“The surge in U.S. grid energy demand makes commercial rooftops ideal for solar,” said Shaun Keegan, CEO and co-founder of Solar Landscape. “At Solar Landscape, we’ve led the design-build process for these projects since 2012, standing apart by being vertically integrated and forming lasting partnerships with real estate clients. We began as a construction company, and we’ve built a reputation for delivering on our promises and fostering genuine relationships with our partners.”
According to a news release, Solar Landscape partnered with 10 investors and financing counterparties in 2024 to raise the $847 million in proceeds. Among them:
- KeyState Renewables committed, through two investment vehicles, to invest $184 million in tax equity toward commercial solar projects developed by Solar Landscape. KeyState Renewables is coordinating several regional banks as tax investors in the tax equity portfolio. Proceeds from the tax equity commitment will finance the operation of 101 solar projects for more than 100 megawatts of capacity, all developed and owned by Solar Landscape, spanning more than 8.5 million square feet of commercial and industrial rooftops.
- Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank, led a $283 million green loan with social co-benefits for commercial rooftop solar projects. Silicon Valley Bank, KeyBanc Capital Markets and National Bank of Canada were coordinating lead arrangers, which also included an array of institutional investors and participating banks. National Bank of Canada was the green structuring agent on the loan, which supports Solar Landscape’s significant investment into communities through workforce development and equitable access to clean energy.
- Prologis, the industrial real estate giant, announced in September its partnership with Solar Landscape to develop and finance more than 30 million square feet of commercial rooftop solar projects. Solar Landscape is developing commercial rooftop solar projects across the country in support of Prologis’ goal of deploying 1 gigawatt of on-site solar and battery storage by 2025.
- In October, Walmart announced its investment in 74 Solar Landscape commercial rooftop solar projects in Maryland and Illinois. The commercial rooftop portfolio will create nearly 43 megawatts of solar capacity, enhancing grid infrastructure and expanding access to affordable clean energy.
Solar Landscape also pointed to surging energy demand in the U.S. from the growth in artificial intelligence machine learning, data centers and electrification of the economy, which has prompted corporations and regulators to seek distributed generation for its deployment speed and grid benefits. It noted that distributed generation solar projects can typically be developed and built in 12 to 24 months, given faster interconnection times and modular setups.
Meantime, the company said its 40 million square feet of signed contracts in 2024 will require more than $1 billion in additional project financing and will serve as the foundation for 500 megawatts of solar capacity, enough to power 80,000 households. It also cited the industry-leading 278 megawatts of capacity that it was awarded under New Jersey’s community solar program for commercial and industrial rooftop solar, whereas the next-largest developer was awarded 43 megawatts.
Solar Landscape now has more than 80 commercial real estate partners that collectively own more than 2 billion square feet across the U.S., prompting it to invest deeply into building capabilities to support the next phase of growth, according to a news release. To that end, it touted a platform that streamlines the full lifecycle of rooftop solar projects, providing real-time visibility into project development, performance monitoring and financial tracking.
It has also built an institutional-caliber structured finance team to execute on the origination, valuation, production, diligence, structuring, negotiation and closing of debt, tax equity, equity partnership and M&A transactions for commercial rooftop solar portfolios, while it’s a long-term holder of its projects.
