U.S. Commercial Rooftops Hold 145 Gigawatts of Untapped Solar Potential

Enough unused roof space exists on commercial buildings in the United States to install 145 gigawatts of new solar capacity — nearly double the country’s current total solar capacity, according to a new report by the energy research firm Wood Mackenzie. That is enough to power 28 million homes.

The report, done in collaboration with Station A — a clean-energy marketplace connecting building owners and renewable energy developers — found that just 3.5 percent of commercial buildings in the U.S. have solar panels on their roofs. Another 1 percent are attached to solar projects located off-site. After accounting for buildings too small or that use too little electricity to make solar a worthwhile investment, analysts said 70 percent of commercial buildings in the U.S. — or 600,000 sites — are potential targets for solar projects.

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This article was originally published on Yale Environment360 on August 11, 2020.  Link to the original article is here: https://e360.yale.edu/digest/u-s-commercial-rooftops-hold-145-gigawatts-of-untapped-solar-potential