Wednesday 22 October 2014

Solar rooftops “boost value of commercial property”

“Does it come with solar panels?” – that may well be a question asked by businesses on the hunt for offices or factory space in future, suggests a report released today.

It sketches out benefits of the energy source such as an “increase” in the value of the property because of extra income streams.

Citing limited data, as commercial use of solar is just gathering steam, the report refers to a handful of examples of recent building deals.

One is the supermarket Sainsbury’s deal to use a warehouse with “extensive” PV system on the roof until 2030, with the deal reportedly transacting “above the asking price” at roughly £107 million. The report states this is a “net yield” of 4.75%.

Chris Strathon, Director in Valuation at solar supplier JLL which contributed to the report added: “We believe rooftop solar on commercial property adds value by improving the marketability of a property to occupiers who are driven by cost or CSR objectives and additional income which is received via power purchase agreements and government-backed tariffs.”

Frans van den Heuvel, CEO at Solarcentury which released the report added: “A new wave of leading brands are going solar – Sainsbury’s, Google, Mars, IKEA and Apple among them – and this is undoubtedly stimulating the market.”

Called 'Shedding Light on PV', the report includes a guide on the types of rooftop materials which can have solar panels – it advises a concrete roof needs “strong” installation due to “high wind loads” - as well as the likely energy yield from different locations in the UK.