Solar panels represent an opportunity for any property owner, whether you mount them on your residence or as a solar farm on top of your office building. Doing so can help offset your electricity bills every month and also show your initiative in the green movement against climate change.
A solar easement is one way to protect this costly investment from external blockage.
Easement basics
An easement is a point of access along someone else’s property. The most common concept of an easement is a utility company’s equipment such as pipes or wires running through or around any house lot.
Solar easements
New Hampshire allows for solar skyspace easement agreements, which establish protections for the sunlight you need to make your solar panels worth the investment.
Your solar panels require access to sunlight and that light needs to travel through the atmosphere and air to hit your solar panels. At certain angles, that light may pass over dozens of houses before getting to your panels. If a neighbor blocks the light with a planted tree or a new development, you do not generate electricity.
Solar easement documentation
A solar skyspace easement in New Hampshire requires a description of vertical and horizontal angles, as well as provisions of compensation if a nearby property owner blocks those angles. They last for at least 10 years and help protect your access to the sunlight that helps you generate clean, green energy.
When drafting a solar skyspace easement, it is important to lean on your resources to make sure the legal language is clear and can hold up to scrutiny when you need to make an appeal for compensation.