--- url: 'https://sandboxsolar.com/news/why-multifamily-solar-isnt-as-hard-as-you-think/' title: 'Why Multifamily Solar Isn’t as Hard as You Think' author: name: Victoria Graham url: 'https://sandboxsolar.com/author/victoria-g/' date: '2026-08-24T23:44:36+00:00' modified: '2026-08-24T23:44:39+00:00' type: post categories: - Colorado Solar - Commercial/Business Solar - Northern Colorado Solar - Property Investment - Sandbox Solar - Solar Panels - Top Solar Contractor tags: - Best Solar Installer - Commercial solar - commercial solar installation - Local Solar Company - multifamily solar - multifamily solar installation - solar energy contractor - Solar Installation - solar panel installation - top solar company image: 'https://sandboxsolar.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Commercial-Solar-Colorado-Sandbox-Solar-4-scaled.webp' published: true --- # Why Multifamily Solar Isn’t as Hard as You Think ## Why Multifamily Solar Isn't as Hard as You Think [Installing solar on a multifamily unit](https://sandboxsolar.com/services/commercial-solar/) isn’t any more complicated than installing on a single-family home, but the billing and interconnection processes are. Considering the mounting equipment available to the industry today, we can make most any roof work. The biggest headache is figuring out just how to meter and distribute the electricity in a way that makes sense for you, the utility, and the tenants. As the best solar installers in Northern Colorado, [Sandbox+ Solar](https://sandboxsolar.com/) is here to break down what to consider and what your options look like when evaluating just how to approach a solar installation investment for your multifamily property. ### How is the property metered? The first thing to identify is the meter architecture. This is going to define which options for interconnection are available, which in turn directly impacts the feasibility of solar metering arrangements as well as the compensation structures that can be leveraged. #### Is the property master metered? If tenants’ rent includes electrical costs (flat or billed by usage), there’s a good chance that the building is master metered. In this setup, there is only one single utility-owned meter that tracks usage and thus cost for all tenants, and all electricity is supplied to those units through some form of distribution system. You may or may not have submeters you own that track the specific consumption of units, but unless the utility owns those meters, it would still be considered “master metered”. #### How about separately metered? This is probably the most common setup for larger complexes. If there is a utility-owned meter for each unit (if there are multiple “units” under multiple submeters, this still may count!) and each unit has its own account with the electric utility, then it is most certainly a separately metered building. #### Wait, can it be both? *Kind of…* You may have a unique arrangement with some units being on a house meter(s), or a common space meter and the rest separately metered, but you’ll likely know if that is the case. ![Commercial Solar Colorado Sandbox solar low income housing complex](https://sandboxsolar.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Commercial-Solar-Colorado-Sandbox-solar-low-income-housing-complex-hero.webp) ### What do you hope a solar PV system will accomplish for you? The first step is to ask yourself some questions to determine your solar installation needs. What are your solar goals? Is it as simple as offsetting the common space electrical costs? Lights and HVAC in the hallways? Parking lot lights? Laundry services? Or perhaps you want to treat it as a larger long-term investment for cash flow and unit marketability? We’ll be the first to admit that simply offsetting the common meter(s) is dead-easy. You own the attached account to the meter; the electricity produced is credited back to that meter and done, all to your benefit. The unfortunate downside is that you have all this roof space and even with pool equipment, lights, and the works—common meter usage is a relatively small fraction of what you could be producing. #### The Golden Opportunity for Utilities If you include electric utilities in your tenants’ rent, you can take advantage of all that roof space to save big time on long-term costs without having to push those same tenants to pay for their own electricity. In this situation, it’s just as easy as the common areas meter above, but with a much larger potential upside. Even if you don’t currently include electricity in their included utilities, it might be worth considering it with solar to greatly increase the unit’s curb appeal. #### Considering Solar Incentives What if you have a unit that is set up with individually metered units? Is there an option that allows you to leverage all that roof space for solar panel installations? Xcel Energy and Fort Collins Utilities (as well as a number of other Colorado Front Range utilities) offer variously named programs that can bridge that gap. Xcel Energy’s “Off-Site Virtual Net Metering” (VNEM) program and FCU’s “Shared Solar” program both similarly allow you to bring production into a single meter and then distribute the solar credits generated to other meters under the same ownership. There are some differences from utility to utility on what is and isn’t allowed, primarily on parcel specifics and account ownership, but there’s a high likelihood that some iteration will work for you. ![Commercial Solar Colorado Sandbox Solar-9](https://sandboxsolar.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Commercial-Solar-Colorado-Sandbox-Solar-9-scaled.webp) ### So, what should I actually do? What does this all mean? Ultimately, it means that you have some options. Let us lay out some specific scenarios to help you see where you can maximize your solar benefits: #### Scenario #1 Your building’s units are separately metered. You want to maximize the amount of solar panels you can fit on the roof(s) and are willing to work through some specifics. - We would recommend moving the tenant meters under the same account as the building’s house meter, assuming that your utility’s program requires that. - Max out roof space; devise a square footage-based (or similar) system to determine what portion of the solar production to assign to each unit. - Decide how you plan to leverage the solar benefit to tenants: You could consider an addition to leases that they’d be purchasing the solar production from you at a below-market rate. - Include (some) free power to all units to increase curb appeal and general marketability. - Charge a flat fee to units that opt in for solar power and reassign production based on which units sign up. #### Scenario #2 Your building’s units are master metered. You include utility costs in the resident’s lease. You want to maximize the benefits of solar on the building’s roof. - Once again, our solar installers recommend maxing out roof space for solar panel installations. - We would tie the PV system into the master meter. - All solar energy production would be credited to your utility account, offsetting massive portions of your building’s consumption as a direct financial benefit. #### Scenario #3 You have separately metered units. You like the idea of solar and have good roof space, but you have reason(s) to lean away from the options above. - Instead of maxing out the roof space, we’d analyze the electrical loads you want to offset and size the PV system accordingly. - We’d once again tie the system into the house (common) meter. - We’d recommend analyzing what electrical loads are currently not common-metered but might make sense to incorporate. Maybe there are some low-cost usages that would be virtually no noticeable change to you but would nonetheless go a long way in pleasing your tenants or increasing curb appeal. ### Invest in Solar for Your Multifamily Property Today Generally speaking, investing in solar for a multifamily building might feel complicated and difficult, but in practice we have some great programs here in Colorado we can leverage to maximize the benefit for you (as the owner), the tenants, and usually both when it comes to PV system installations. If you’d like to get an idea of how the [best solar installers](https://sandboxsolar.com/about-us/) in Northern Colorado could help you maximize your solar potential through either direct ownership and investment or through a third-party-owned arrangement, [contact](https://sandboxsolar.com/#contact) Sandbox+ Solar today, and we’ll narrow down the option(s) that might work best for you! [Get a Free Quote](#contact)