Make your real estate portfolio greener while steering clear of tax disadvantages

Unused commercial roof space holds great potential, both ecologically and economically. However, if real estate funds operate their own photovoltaic system on their properties, this is regarded as active entrepreneurial management by the tax authorities and may result in taxation disadvantages. On the other hand, if the roof areas of the property are simply leased out for 20 or even 30 years in order to host PV systems, third parties – in this case the solar provider and/or operator – will need to be granted extensive access rights. The solution: The ENVIRIA Sale & Lease back model, in which your own photovoltaic system is managed by ENVIRIA.

Everyone benefits: We hand over a turnkey solar plant to you and lease it back from you for a 20-year period. You receive a fixed rental income, while your tenants are supplied with low-cost solar power from their own roof. Since the marketing of the energy produced as well as the technical and commercial management fall on us, there are no tax disadvantages. In this model, the real estate fund continues to act purely as an asset owner, because we, as the contractual partner, take over all management tasks and the associated operational risks – while you own the plant.

This is another upside of the ENVIRIA Sale & Lease back model when it comes to the valuation of your property, since a solar plant increases the value of the property in the long term. In addition to the immediate return, owning your PV system has numerous other benefits: you improve your sustainability image, retain tenants through favorable landlord-to-tenant energy prices, and proactively respond to upcoming sustainability-related regulations – in Hamburg, for example, solar systems will be mandatory on existing commercial buildings starting in 2025, while other federal states are also discussing ways to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy solutions on existing properties.