Solar Across a Portfolio Is an Asset Management Decision. The Portfolio Assessment Models It That Way.
Plankton Energy develops, builds, and operates commercial solar for institutional property owners with multiple assets. Each property in the portfolio gets a structure matched to its situation, PPA to reduce operating expenses, Site Lease to generate income, or Direct Purchase to capture the full financial benefit. One developer managing the full deployment.
- Reduce operating expenses and improve NOI across office, retail, and industrial assets through fixed-rate PPAs
- Convert underutilized rooftop and parking inventory into income-generating community solar sites under Site Leases
- One developer relationship for the full portfolio, consistent counterparty, consistent reporting, consistent O&M standard
- Clients are always contracted with a Plankton entity. Plankton remains the O&M operator throughout the agreement. No third-party handoff on contracts or O&M. Clients remain contracted with a Plankton entity throughout.
A quick note before you submit: Plankton works on commercial-scale projects. Individual properties with rooftops under 10,000 sq ft or parking lots under 25,000 sq ft fall outside our current programs.
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We are not a good fit at this time. We work on commercial projects with a rooftop above 10,000 sq ft or a parking lot above 25,000 sq ft.
Commercial Solar Across Office, Retail, and Mixed-Use Assets. Operating and Producing Now.
302 kW Rooftop Direct Purchase
1,798 kW Hybrid Rooftop and Canopy
857 kW Across Two Buildings on the Same Street
641 kW Rooftop PPA
Solar Across a Portfolio Affects NOI, ESG Performance, and Long-Term Asset Value.
For institutional owners, solar is not an energy decision in isolation. It affects the financial performance of individual assets and the portfolio's position against increasingly common ESG requirements from tenants, lenders, and capital partners.
Net Operating Income
A fixed-rate PPA reduces operating expenses for the full contract term, producing predictable NOI improvement that doesn't fluctuate with utility rate changes. A Site Lease adds a new revenue line from rooftop or parking inventory that was generating nothing. Both affect asset valuation. For a portfolio with multiple assets, the aggregate NOI impact of a systematic solar deployment is material.
ESG and Tenant Positioning
Institutional tenants, particularly in office and mixed-use, increasingly make leasing decisions that include the building's sustainability performance. Solar reduces a property's carbon footprint in a way that is measurable, verifiable, and reportable. For lenders and capital partners with portfolio-level ESG criteria, systematic solar deployment across holdings is one of the more straightforward ways to move the metrics.
Utility Rate Hedge
Commercial electricity rates in MA, NJ, NY, and CA have increased consistently over the past decade. A PPA locks the rate at signing for the full contract term. For a portfolio with significant exposure to commercial utility costs, that hedge has compounding value as rates continue to rise. The financial model for each asset shows what the break-even point looks like against projected utility escalation in that utility territory.
Community Solar as a Revenue Layer
Rooftop and parking inventory that isn't generating behind-the-meter savings can be converted into a community solar income stream through a Site Lease. Plankton develops and operates the community solar project. The property owner receives fixed annual lease payments with no capital, no operational involvement, and no impact on the asset's primary use. This applies across office, retail, industrial, and mixed-use asset classes.
Not Every Asset in the Portfolio Takes the Same Structure. That's the Point.
A systematic portfolio solar deployment matches each asset to the structure that fits its situation. The portfolio assessment produces an asset-by-asset recommendation based on building type, utility territory, ownership structure, and tax position.
PPA, Operating Expense Reduction
Plankton owns and operates the system. The building purchases electricity from Plankton at a fixed rate below the utility tariff. No capital, no maintenance, predictable energy costs. Improves NOI directly. Plankton captures the federal ITC as system owner. Best for assets where behind-the-meter electricity offset is the primary value driver.
Site Lease, New Revenue Line
Plankton rents the rooftop or parking lot, develops and operates a community solar project, and sells electricity to subscribers. The property receives fixed annual lease payments for the full contract term with no capital and no operational involvement. Best for assets where rooftop or parking inventory isn't producing behind-the-meter savings, or where a second income stream is more valuable than an electricity cost reduction.
Direct Purchase, Full Capture
The ownership group buys the system and captures the full economic benefit: utility savings, the 30% federal ITC, and MACRS accelerated depreciation. Maximizes long-term return for assets where the ownership structure has sufficient tax appetite and capital for deployment. Asset-level modeling determines whether Direct Purchase outperforms PPA on a risk-adjusted basis for each property.
Incentive Stacks and Interconnection Timelines Vary Significantly by State.
For a portfolio with assets across multiple states, the incentive calculation and interconnection risk profile are different for each property. Here is what applies in each market where Plankton's pipeline is active, with a portfolio-level lens.
Massachusetts
Plankton's deepest active market. The Waltham cluster (three installations on the same block), Newton 85 Wells Avenue (1,798 kW dual-model), and Burlington EQR (302 kW Direct Purchase) represent the range of structures deployed across MA office assets. SMART 3.0 annual payments support Site Lease economics. Eversource and National Grid interconnection managed internally.
New Jersey
SuSI ADI pays per MWh for 15 years per qualifying asset. Plankton has NJ projects across retail, industrial, and manufacturing asset classes including the ResinTech Camden 972 kW Direct Purchase and multiple grocery retail PPAs. PSE&G and JCP&L interconnection processes managed internally across asset types.
California
NEM 3.0 economics are asset-specific. Portfolio underwriting in CA requires load profile analysis for each building before determining which assets are strong candidates. Retail, grocery, manufacturing, and full-occupancy office are the strongest fits. PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E processes differ and are managed with territory-specific knowledge.
Rhode Island
REF grants apply per asset. Virtual net metering is the more powerful portfolio tool: a system sited on one RI property can generate credits applied across other RI properties under the same ownership. Allows a portfolio owner to concentrate generation on the best-positioned rooftop and distribute the financial benefit across the RI holdings.
New York Metro
NY-Sun C&I pays per asset. VDER credits apply to exported generation, which benefits community solar structures on NY assets where behind-the-meter offset isn't the primary driver. Plankton has completed office and retail projects across Westchester, Staten Island, and the broader metro area under Con Ed and National Grid NY territory.
One Developer. One O&M Standard. The Contract Is Never Flipped to an Outside Party.
Most solar deals involve a developer who sells, a financier who buys, and a servicer who operates. For a single asset that is manageable. Across a portfolio of ten or twenty properties, it becomes a counterparty management problem. Plankton develops, builds, and operates every system. The client is always contracted with a Plankton entity. When Plankton owns a project, ownership sits inside a Plankton investment fund with an approximate 7 to 10 year life. At that point, the asset will most likely move to another Plankton fund. What does not change: the contract is never flipped to an outside party, and Plankton remains the O&M operator regardless of which internal fund holds the asset. For a portfolio with multiple assets, that consistency matters more than it does for a single property. No third-party handoff on contracts or O&M. When Plankton owns projects, ownership sits inside Plankton funds. If a fund matures and assets move, they move to another Plankton fund. Portfolio clients remain contracted with a Plankton entity throughout.
Portfolio-Level Assessment
Our development team reviews each asset in the portfolio, models the appropriate structure by building, and produces a consolidated recommendation showing projected NOI impact, lease income, and incentive capture across the holdings. Asset-by-asset financial models included.
Engineering and Interconnection by Asset
Each asset goes through our internal engineering and interconnection process independently. Utility-specific knowledge across MA, NJ, NY, CA, and RI means each asset gets the right approach for its territory and utility, not a generic submission process.
Installation and Long-Term Operation
We build with our own EPC team and manage O&M across all assets in the portfolio. One point of contact, one performance standard, one reporting structure across the deployment. The portfolio generates income or reduces costs from day one, with Plankton managing performance throughout the agreement term.
30% Federal ITC, Active Through December 31, 2027
The Investment Tax Credit under Section 48E is preserved for projects placed in service by December 31, 2027. For Direct Purchase structures, this applies asset by asset to the property owner, the 30% credit and MACRS depreciation are captured at the ownership level. For PPA and Site Lease, Plankton captures the credit as system owner. The portfolio assessment models each structure across your specific holdings and identifies where each asset stands relative to the deadline based on its utility territory and interconnection timeline.
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