A Tel Aviv apartment building has become the first in the country to sign a contract for a solar energy storage battery that will enable it to go off grid and maintain electricity in common areas during power outages.

It joins some 15 apartment buildings across the country involved in a scheme whereby solar panels produce renewable energy sold to the national grid. Apartment owners continue to receive and pay for electricity that powers their private homes from the national grid, and not from the panels. The project, Sunshine for Everyone, is a joint effort of the Israeli Energy Forum, the KKL-JNF Jewish National Fund and the Energy Ministry.

Former lawmaker Yael Paran, who directs policy at the Israeli Energy Forum, told The Times of Israel that there were two main obstacles to getting an apartment building to adopt solar energy: finding a determined resident who would persuade at least 66 percent of the owners to agree, and getting them to pay for installing a system. At present, a tenants’ committee cannot secure loans from banks.

For this reason, Sunshine for Everyone, which guides residential buildings through every stage of solar installation, recommends renting the roof to a developer, who will fund the project.

In such arrangements, the developer pays rent to the building out of money earned from the electricity that is channeled into the........

© The Times of Israel