Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JAMES J. KENNEDY
District 22 (Middlesex, Somerset and Union)
SYNOPSIS
Requires all newly constructed warehouses to be solar-ready buildings.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning solar energy generation on warehouses and supplementing P.L.1975, c.217 (C.52:27D-119 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Any newly constructed warehouse for which an application for a construction permit has not been declared complete by the enforcing agency before July 1, 2020, shall be a solar-ready building.
b. The Department of Community Affairs, in consultation with the Department of Environmental Protection, shall adopt, pursuant to the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), rules and regulations establishing standards for the design and construction of solar-ready buildings. The rules and regulations shall include, but need not be limited to:
(1) the required surface area of a roof that must be left free from obstruction for the purpose of installing solar panels;
(2) the roof load capacity required to hold solar panels; and
(3) a requirement that a building contain pathways for routing electrical conduit or plumbing from the roof to the electrical service panel or hot water system.
c. For the purposes of this section:
“Solar panel” means an elevated panel or plate, or a canopy or array thereof, that captures and converts solar radiation to produce power, and includes flat plate, focusing solar collectors, or photovoltaic solar cells.
“Solar-ready building” means a building that incorporates design elements, as specified by the Department of Community Affairs, which allow for the installation of rooftop solar panels and, if the structure or building is intended to use hot water, a solar water heating system.
“Solar water heating system” means a system which uses solar energy as the primary means of heating water.
“Warehouse” means any building, room, structure, or facility of at least 10,000 square feet used primarily for the storage of goods intended for sale.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would require that all warehouses constructed on or after July 1, 2020 be solar-ready buildings.
For the purposes of the bill, a “warehouse” is defined as any building, room, structure, or facility of at least 10,000 square feet used primarily for the storage of goods intended for sale. The term “solar-ready building” is defined as a building that incorporates design elements that allow for the installation of rooftop solar panels and, if the structure or building is intended to use hot water, a solar water heating system. The bill would require the Department of Community Affairs, in consultation with the Department of Environmental Protection, to adopt rules and regulations establishing standards for the design and construction of solar-ready buildings.