Self-storage units are all over the place – we sure own a lot of crap, don’t we? – and seem to be perfect places to put solar panels. Flat roofs, already ugly so nobody will complain, connected to the grid.
The problem is that the units don’t consume much electricity so the financial return depends on net metering and other rules that pay for exporting electricity to the grid. Those rules are increasingly getting squeezed as utilities double down. Further, they don’t get much attention from their owners since storage units are usually bottom-feeding developments, built to get some income from a property before a better use comes along, and those folks often won’t take the time to figure out the benefits of solar.
But there are exceptions. The Laconia Daily Sun has a story about a unit in Belmont that put up 300 panels. The story is here; I like the headline: “Profits Through the Roof”
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There is a storage business in Sunapee with panels on the roof. Sunapee Self Storage on rt 103 near Young’s Hill Rd. Makes me smile every time I see them. It is maddening that we are making such forward thinking developments harder, not easier. I suppose a lot of self interest in the utility companies and a lot of resistance to change.
Another innovative area where I have seen PV panels installed is on farm fields. They put them up high so tractors can drive under them and space them out so the crops still get enough sunlight. These are huge tracts of land (not in the Monty Python meaning) and provide additional income for farmers year-round.
David, I hope you’ll comment on the NH bill under consideration requiring that large parking lots have solar panel canopies over 50 of their area. Supporter of solar power that I am, I see many issues with this; would love your take. HB1641, being heard this Wednesday in House Municipal & County Govt committee.
That’s a great idea – which means it will fail in this legislature. “Interfering with private enterprise” or something like that.