Who Receives the Solar Savings?
A warehouse landlord wants rooftop panels while the tenants pay their own electric bills. The proposed system could produce power as designed and still fail to produce the cash the landlord expects to use for repayment.
Trace the benefit to the actual borrower.
Start with the utility accounts and leases. Which party pays for electricity, and which party would receive any benefit from the system? If the landlord owns the roof but the tenant receives the bill savings, the landlord needs a documented economic reason to carry the project cost. A projected reduction in total building consumption is not a payment source for a borrower who cannot collect that value.
A tenant may also lack roof rights for the time needed to recover an investment, even if it pays the bill. If ownership, leases, and meter arrangements cannot put the benefit and obligation on compatible parties, deferring the project is more sensible than looking for a larger approval.
Can the roof support the project for its expected life?
Check roof condition, structural suitability, access, insurance, design, permitting, and interconnection. A roof due for replacement soon may require work before panels can be installed. The owner should price that work and the disruption it creates, not assume the solar installer will absorb it. A panel financing agreement cannot repair a roof or settle a lease dispute.
Obtain a site-specific production estimate and verify the utility arrangement that determines the value of power generated. Electricity rates, tenant occupancy, and rules for exported energy can change the cash result. Model more modest production and a tenant change before using the best estimate to support repayment.
Do you intend to own the equipment?
An owned system financed with debt leaves the borrower with payments and ownership responsibilities. A lease or power purchase agreement involves a different ownership and payment contract. Compare maintenance, transfer at property sale, roof access, and any obligations that continue if a tenant leaves. Use the written proposals actually available for this property; an illustration of one arrangement cannot stand in for another.
For an eligible owned project, NBF can help examine possible business or property funding paths. An independent provider determines approval, amount, pricing, collateral, guarantees, documentation, and terms. Any claimed tax benefit, utility credit, or incentive belongs outside the base repayment case until current availability and the applicant's eligibility have been verified.
Run the borrower's ordinary-year cash test.
Compare the energy value that reaches the borrower with maintenance, insurance, any roof work, and financing payments. If the deal still works with lower output and a tenant turnover, there is a case worth reviewing. If it works only by crediting someone else's electricity savings to the borrower or by counting an unverified incentive, the project needs redesign before financing.
Resolve the split before taking on the debt.
Bring the leases, meter records, roof assessment, installation quote, and conservative economics. A wider facility program may be evaluated through commercial property improvement financing.