The UK’s commercial rooftop market needs innovation if it is to offer an attractive legal proposition, UK law firm Burges Salmon has said.
The legal group said that the commercial market lacked the maturity of ground mount and residential rooftop markets, and that work was needed if developers were to attract investors.
“The attractiveness of the asset class to investment funds is not in question but standardisation will be the key for developers to present attractive portfolios to the market,” Euan Bremner, partner at Burges Salmon, said.
The law firm, which recently advised Marks & Spencer on its installation of a 6.1MW solar array at its Castle Donington distribution centre, currently the largest rooftop solar scheme in the UK, is now developing templates to address specific requirements of parties involved with a commercial rooftop deal.
“The M&S deal had the perfect fit of counterparties. A willing landlord, a robust tenant and offtaker (in Marks & Spencer) and a sophisticated developer and funder (in Amber Infrastructure). Early counterparty engagement is essential to understanding which model may be best suited to a particular project,” Bremner added.
Burges Salmon made the comments after it surpassed the 2GW barrier for the capacity of solar PV installations it has advised on since the introduction of the feed-in tariff almost five years ago.