As commercial and residential property owners respond to the demands for clean energy motivated by carbon emissions concerns and the budgetary prerogatives of energy cost and governmental enactments creating financial incentives, solar installations are becoming more common both nationally and in New Jersey. As of 2018, despite its relatively small land area, New Jersey ranked sixth among the states in total installed solar capacity (https://www.seia.org/solar-industry-research-data), and has seen a dramatic increase in solar coverage over the last 10 years.

Solar panels and related infrastructure are often constructed as rooftop-mounted facilities, particularly in the northern, and more densely populated and built-up half of the state. The advantages of solar power installation should, however, be weighed against the preservation of the structural integrity and the useful life of the rooftop structures themselves. In particular, property owners should ensure that the warranty covering the roof itself remains effective in the context of the additional roof penetrations, weight, and wind loads the installation and continued presence of solar panels create. Legal practitioners should be mindful of the concerns of warranty coverage or preservation in the draft of solar power purchase agreements (PPA) and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) agreements.