Commercial Owners Associations (COA) are commonly found in business parks, commercial condominiums, and on retail properties.  Solar can reduce common area expenses, providing lower monthly dues and more robust cashflow for reserves. Solar can also benefit individual tenants/owners.  Even small COAs can see millions of dollars in avoided energy expenses.

However, there are compliance complexities governed by complicated covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&Rs) and/or bylaws, which have notices and specific timelines that can seem overwhelming for the most experienced property manager.  For this reason, not every COA is a good candidate for solar; however, we’re here to help quickly determine if it is. Ionic’s team has over 30 combined years of managing COA’s complex operations. With our specific program in place, and our ability to understand and navigate complicated CC&Rs and bylaws, we deliver solar with maximum value to our clients.

Similar to homeowners associations, our streamlined process for COAs is as follows:

• Initial analyses to assess if solar can save the association money.

• Legal analysis of conditions and restrictions (CC&Rs) and/or bylaws to determine the process needed for approval of a solar system specific to the property.

• Property infrastructure assessment to identify existing construction methods and the condition of existing property.  

• Preparation of construction specifications detailing the exact equipment, methods of construction, insurance requirements, and restrictions for contractors.

• Obtain competitive bids from multiple contractors based on construction specifications prepared by Ionic Energy.

• Management of COA voting process for membership approval of the solar system, including preparation of compliant ballots and a voting program.    

• Solicit multiple financing options for the COA based on the current lending market and the COA’s specific needs.  

• Conduct reserve analyses to update reserve studies for maintenance and operation of the solar system.

• Perform construction management from start to finish.

• Coordinate solar system maintenance based on specific needs of each COA

We also empower contractors with tools necessary to successfully complete a COA project by streamlining the COA approvals process and coordinating financing.  Whether you’re a member of a COA, a property manager, or a contractor, it is worth obtaining an initial analysis at no cost to see if solar can benefit your community.