Archives: Solar Panel

Local Laws Stop the Setting Sun on Solar Installations

Two bills pending in the Montgomery County Council aim to increase the use of renewable energy in the suburban Maryland County. At a time when the number of households installing solar panels on their roofs declined last year, the first annual decline since 2000, and a decline by more than 15% when compared with the … Continue Reading

Selling a House with Solar Panels is Not for the Faint of Heart

By Stuart Kaplow on March 18, 2018 Posted in Energy, Solar Panel

There are more than a Million houses in the U.S. with solar panels installed on the roof and that number is increasing. It can be difficult if not dangerous to fail to properly address rooftop solar panels at the time of sale of a house. Among the most often made inquiries to this law firm … Continue Reading

Renewable Energy Claim is Deceptive

By Stuart Kaplow on March 4, 2018 Posted in Energy, Solar Panel, wind turbine

This past week and there have been many other times this law firm was consulted about a marketing claim by a building owner with rooftop solar panels that advertises they “use” renewable energy, but the owner sells Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) for the renewable energy it generates, so the Federal Trade Commission says it shouldn’t … Continue Reading

Solar Panel Tariff Fight Makes Strange Bedfellows

By Stuart Kaplow on August 20, 2017 Posted in Energy, Federal, Solar Panel

The U.S. International Trade Commission held a nearly 10 hour initial public hearing this past Tuesday on a petition seeking tariffs and price minimums on low cost imported solar panels. The petition seeks duties of 40 cents per watt on imported solar cells and also a floor price of 78 cents per watt on solar … Continue Reading

South Miami Poised to Mandate Solar Panels

By Stuart Kaplow on July 16, 2017 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Energy, Solar Panel

The City of South Miami, Florida City Commission is scheduled to take a final vote on July 18 on an ordinance that will require rooftop photovoltaic panels on new construction and major renovations. The ordinance is likely to pass given that at its July 12 meeting the second reader version of this ordinance passed with … Continue Reading

PACE in Maryland is Not Keeping Pace

By Stuart Kaplow on June 25, 2017 Posted in Codes and Regulations, Green Building, Solar Panel

In 2008 I said Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) loans “could be bigger than anything in U.S. real estate since the invention of the glass window.” But today, despite Maryland having enacted a PACE enabling law in 2014, only one PACE loan has closed in the State. By any measure, one is not an overwhelming … Continue Reading

Solar Powered Advertisement is Deceptive

By Stuart Kaplow on May 28, 2017 Posted in Federal, Solar Panel

Billboard in Italian Train Station

A business installs photo voltaic panels on its roof to generate power, and advertises that it is “solar powered.” The business, however, sells the Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) that are generated by the solar power. Even if the business is near net zero for electricity generated by the solar panels, according to guidance from the … Continue Reading

Selling a House with Solar Panels is Not for the Faint of Heart

By Stuart Kaplow on May 21, 2017 Posted in Energy, Environmental, Solar Panel

Green Building Law Update

The Intersection of Real Estate, Science, and Law

Archives: Solar Panel

Local Laws Stop the Setting Sun on Solar Installations

Selling a House with Solar Panels is Not for the Faint of Heart

Renewable Energy Claim is Deceptive

Solar Panel Tariff Fight Makes Strange Bedfellows

South Miami Poised to Mandate Solar Panels

PACE in Maryland is Not Keeping Pace

Solar Powered Advertisement is Deceptive

Selling a House with Solar Panels is Not for the Faint of Heart