Bristol-headquartered law firm Burges Salmon has reached the landmark of advising on more than two gigawatts (two billion watts) of solar PV installations in the UK since the introduction of the first feed-in tariff in April 2010.
The firm has been involved in projects from the first wave of developers seeking accreditation under the original feed-in tariff regime to the new wave of investors seeking legal solutions to the comparative complexity of commercial roof top solar.
Burges Salmon has helped numerous developers reach financial close by various means including forward sales to yieldcos (companies which can protect investors against regulatory changes) engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) led funding models, devising bankable private wire power purchase agreements (PPAs) to augment income streams and advising on the establishment of green bonds. 
However, set against the comparatively mature ground mounted and residential roof top markets, the commercial roof top market continues to require innovation to present it with an attractive legal proposition.
Burges Salmon partner Euan Bremner, pictured, who leads the firm’s solar team, said: “The attractiveness of the asset class to investment funds is not in question but standardisation will be the key for developers to present attractive portfolios to the market. We are evolving various templates and models with our clients to address the competing requirements of the various parties to a commercial roof top deal.”
Burges Salmon recently advised Marks & Spencer on the UK’s largest roof top solar scheme – a 6.1MW installation at its Castle Donington distribution centre.
Euan added: “The M&S deal had the perfect fit of counterparties. A willing landlord, a robust tenant and offtaker (in Marks & Spencer) and a sophisticated developer and funder (in Amber Infrastructure). Early counterparty engagement is essential to understanding which model may be best suited to a particular project.”
