Your Roof or Parking Lot Earns Fixed Annual Rent. No Electricity Load Required.
Plankton Energy develops, builds, and operates community solar projects on commercial rooftops and parking lots across Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. Property owners receive fixed annual lease payments for the full contract term. No capital. No operational involvement. No requirement to use the electricity generated.
- Plankton rents your rooftop or parking lot space. Your organization receives fixed annual lease income for the full contract term.
- No electricity load required. The electricity generated goes to community solar subscribers in your area, residential and commercial customers who receive credits on their utility bills.
- No capital outlay, no maintenance responsibility, no operational involvement. Plankton funds, builds, and operates the entire system.
- 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. Properties with rooftops under 10,000 sq ft or parking lots under 25,000 sq ft fall outside our current programs.
Thank you for reaching out to Plankton Energy.
We have received your request. A member of our development team will be in touch shortly to discuss your property and what lease income it could generate.
Thank you for your interest.
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.
Four Steps From Empty Roof to Annual Lease Income.
The property owner's role is minimal by design. Plankton handles everything from development through long-term operation. Here is how the process works.
Site Assessment
Plankton reviews your roof or parking lot, size, age, structural condition, utility territory, and interconnection access. You receive an estimate of what lease income the site could support.
Lease Agreement
Plankton and the property owner sign a Site Lease. The agreement sets the annual payment, contract term, and the conditions under which Plankton can access and operate the site.
Development and Installation
Plankton manages permitting, engineering, utility interconnection, and construction. The property owner is not involved in the development process beyond access coordination.
Lease Payments Begin
Once the system is operational, lease payments go to the property owner annually for the full contract term. Plankton operates and maintains the system throughout. No action required from the property owner.
Rooftops and Parking Lots Generating Lease Income. Across Property Types.
Community solar Site Leases work across a range of property types. Churches, nonprofits, industrial buildings, office buildings, and commercial facilities are all active in the Plankton portfolio.
305 kW Rooftop and Canopy Site Lease
340 kW Rooftop and Canopy Site Lease
544 kW Rooftop Community Solar Site Lease
88 kW Rooftop Community Solar Site Lease
What Property Owners Usually Ask Before They Move Forward.
"What Does the Lease Pay?"
Lease rates depend on the size of the usable roof or parking area, the age and condition of the roof, the utility territory, and local market factors. Plankton's site assessment produces a specific estimate based on your property. There is no fixed rate that applies across all sites, a 305 kW church rooftop in a SMART-active territory in Massachusetts generates different economics than an 88 kW rooftop in a smaller market. The assessment takes less than a month.
"Does My Building Need to Use the Solar Power?"
No. Under a Site Lease, the electricity goes to community solar subscribers, other customers who receive bill credits from the utility. Your building's electricity consumption has no bearing on the lease payment. This is the key difference between a Site Lease and a PPA. A PPA makes sense when the building has significant electricity load to offset. A Site Lease works regardless of the building's own consumption.
"What Happens to My Roof?"
The Site Lease agreement defines Plankton's access rights and obligations around the rooftop or parking area. Installation is done with ballasted mounting where possible, no penetrations into the roof membrane. Plankton is responsible for system maintenance, roof protection during installation, and system removal at end of term. Roof condition at end of term is addressed in the lease agreement. The site assessment will review your current roof age and condition before any agreement is executed.
The Lease Rate Plankton Can Offer Depends on the Project Economics.
Property owners receive lease payments from Plankton, not from the state incentive programs directly. What state programs do is support the underlying project economics that determine how competitive a lease rate Plankton can offer a qualifying host site. Here is how that works in each active market.
Massachusetts
The SMART 3.0 program pays Plankton a fixed per-kWh incentive annually for qualifying community solar projects. That revenue stream is what makes it possible to offer competitive long-term lease rates to Massachusetts host sites. A larger site in a favorable utility territory with a newer roof will support a higher lease rate than a smaller or older property. Eversource and National Grid both have active SMART capacity in Plankton's Massachusetts pipeline.
New Jersey
New Jersey's SuSI program pays Plankton per MWh generated for 15 years on qualifying community solar projects. That 15-year revenue base supports competitive lease rates for qualifying NJ host sites. PSE&G and JCP&L service territories are both active in Plankton's NJ pipeline. The SuSI incentive level is one of several factors that determine what lease rate a specific NJ site can support.
California
California does not have a statewide community solar incentive equivalent to Massachusetts or New Jersey. Most Plankton CA projects are behind-the-meter PPAs rather than community solar Site Leases. If your CA property has significant daytime electricity consumption, a PPA may be the more relevant structure. The site assessment will identify which structure, if any, fits your property and utility territory.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island has an active but smaller community solar market compared to Massachusetts. National Grid RI and the state's Renewable Energy Fund support project economics for qualifying projects. The RI market's scale affects the competitive lease rate environment. Properties in strong interconnection positions with qualifying rooftop or parking footprints are the best candidates for a RI Site Lease assessment.
New York
New York has an active community solar market through NY-Sun and VDER. Plankton has completed community solar projects in Westchester, Staten Island, and the broader metro area. NY-Sun rebates and VDER per-kWh credits support Plankton's project economics, which determines the lease rate available to qualifying NY host sites. Con Ed and National Grid NY are both active in Plankton's NY metro pipeline.
Plankton Is Always the Contracted Entity. Plankton Remains the O&M Operator for the Full Term.
A Site Lease is a long-term agreement. For property owners, the counterparty on that agreement matters as much as the payment amount. 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. The property owner remains contracted with a Plankton entity throughout.
Site Assessment
Our development team reviews your roof or parking lot and produces a lease income estimate specific to your property, utility territory, and market. No commitment required to receive the assessment.
Development and Installation
Plankton manages permitting, structural review, utility interconnection, and construction. Your organization's involvement is limited to access coordination. Construction is scheduled around your property's use and operations.
Annual Lease Payments
Once operational, lease payments are made annually for the full contract term. Plankton handles all system maintenance and operations. No action required from the property owner beyond the original lease agreement.
Find Out What Your Roof or Parking Lot Could Generate
The site assessment takes less than a month and produces a specific lease income estimate based on your property's size, roof condition, utility territory, and local market. No capital commitment required. No obligation to proceed after receiving the assessment.
Request Site Assessment