The Technical Qualifications for Treating Photovoltaic Assets as Real Property by Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)

Authors: David Feldman, Michael Mendelsohn, and Jason Coughlin

Abstract: It has been proposed that Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) have the potential to lower the cost and increase the adoption of photovoltaic systems (PV) by offering a more attractive source of capital. The purpose of this paper is to explain the fundamental physical characteristics of PV and compare them to the characteristics of 'real' property, to help determine whether REITs can own PV systems.