Faropoint, an industrial property owner, has started construction on the first of 16 community solar arrays it plans to build on warehouse roofs across New Jersey. The first system is a 1.6-megawatt array at 19-05 Nevins Road in Fair Lawn, and the full portfolio adds up to more than 10 megawatts. Electrek reported the construction start on Nov. 5.
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The other 15 projects total about 8.5 megawatts and have been accepted into the New Jersey Community Solar Energy Program, with nine of them cleared to begin construction. Faropoint and its independent adviser SolarKal estimate the portfolio will generate about 12.7 million kilowatt-hours a year and avoid roughly 8,500 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, which equates to about 0.67 metric tons avoided per megawatt-hour generated. Both numbers are projections rather than metered results, since only one roof has broken ground so far.
Fair Lawn first: how residents get the power
Community solar lets a household benefit from solar generation without a panel on its own roof. According to Electrek’s report, residents subscribe to an off-site installation and receive credits on their utility bills for the power it produces. For renters and apartment dwellers, who cannot mount equipment on a building they do not own, that arrangement is often the only practical route to solar savings. Brian Nave, Faropoint’s vice president of asset management and renewable energy, said that putting previously unused portions of the company’s buildings to work lets Faropoint support the communities where it invests.
The reservation for lower-income households is the part that matters most to the people who would subscribe. Electrek says at least half of each project’s capacity will be reserved for low- and moderate-income households. The state’s own rule reads a little differently: the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities says at least 51% of total program capacity is set aside for those subscribers, and they receive a bill credit discount of at least 25%. Electrek does not reconcile the two figures, and Faropoint has not published a roof-by-roof breakdown, so “at least half” is the floor the company has stated.
The arithmetic of the portfolio shows how unusual the Fair Lawn roof is. At 1.6 megawatts it is far larger than the average of the remaining 15 projects, which works out to roughly 570 kilowatts each if the 8.5-megawatt total is spread evenly. Smaller roofs are typical of the program: SolarKal said its clients had 12 commercial projects accepted in New Jersey and Illinois, sized from 500 kilowatts to 3.5 megawatts.
The 3,000-megawatt expansion behind the rooftops
The Faropoint roofs sit inside a program that New Jersey expanded sharply in March. The board approved 3,000 additional megawatts of community solar capacity, the largest allocation in state history, expected to serve about 450,000 subscribers. Registrations for new projects are accepted through Dec. 31, 2029, or until all 3,000 megawatts are subscribed. The allocation splits by utility territory: 1,555 megawatts for PSE&G, 787 for Jersey Central Power & Light, 324 for Atlantic City Electric, 51 for Rockland Electric, and 300 reserved for landfill projects.
Board President Christine Guhl-Sadovy said solar and battery storage are the fastest and most cost-effective ways to build new electricity generation.
The existing program offers a track record to judge the new capacity by. Solar Power World reported that it has delivered more than $70 million in bill credits and $14 million in net savings to over 37,000 subscribers across 162 operational projects totaling 228 megawatts. Spread over the program’s life, that works out to an average of under $380 in net savings per subscriber, a modest sum that explains why the pitch to households centers on a guaranteed discount rather than on large payouts.
Rooftop precedents and the details still missing
Warehouse roofs are an established site type for the program. Solar Power World covered SolarKal’s work for High Street Logistics Properties on two buildings at 3 and 5 Finderne Avenue in Bridgewater, spanning 204,000 square feet and adding 2 megawatts. SolarKal has advised High Street since 2021. Its chief executive, Yaniv Kalish, has said in a release on client acceptances that the state programs are highly competitive and require advance planning.
The owner side of the deal is spelled out in the Bridgewater coverage. SolarKal advises from feasibility studies through developer selection and project management, and the rooftop leases generate long-term revenue that raises the properties’ net operating income. That is the incentive for a warehouse landlord such as Faropoint: the roof earns rent from a solar developer while tenants keep operating underneath.
Several practical details remain unpublished. Electrek’s report gives no completion dates, no subscription prices and no enrollment instructions, and it links to no Faropoint announcement. With only the 1.6-megawatt Fair Lawn roof under construction and nine more cleared to start, most of the 10-megawatt portfolio has no announced date for delivering bill credits to anyone.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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