STAG Industrial started construction on four new solar rooftop systems in Massachusetts and one in New Jersey. These systems have an aggregate capacity of 8.5 MW, which will generate over 10 million kWh of electricity annually.
With the addition of these sites, STAG now hosts over 10 MW of solar nationally. The Massachusetts projects are being developed by Nautilus Solar Energy, as part of the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Program (SMART) — a program to cost-effectively bring new distributed solar resources in the state.
“We are headquartered in Boston and have been excited about hosting solar in our home state since the announcement of the Massachusetts SMART Program years ago. The SMART program enabled us to leverage our square footage and to provide resources for the local community, helping us to demonstrate our commitments to sustainability with local concrete action,” said Brian LaMont, senior VP of construction at STAG.
Construction on all of the solar sites commenced in early spring and all of the solar systems are expected to be online by the Q4 of 2020 or earlier. STAG is actively pursuing solar opportunities nationwide, with executed contracts across several states in development.
“We are honored to be working with STAG on these projects. Hosting solar on industrial buildings challenges the mindset that these assets are solely hubs for distributing goods. It showcases the opportunity to deliver local, clean energy to surrounding communities while creating value for the landlord. That’s the beauty of onsite solar,” said Drew Torbin, CEO of Black Bear Energy.
Black Bear Energy facilitated the project in partnership with STAG.
“It’s exciting to have commenced construction as these sites are expected to be some of the first MA SMART rooftop solar projects qualified for community solar to come online,” said Jeffrey Cheng, president of Nautilus Solar Energy.
