Queens property giant installs solar panels on half its buildings

Zara Realty is installing solar panels on its Queens buildings.  Photo via Premier Solar Solutions

By Rachel Vick

A Jamaica-based property giant has installed solar panels atop more than half of its 45 residential buildings, as the company moves to outfit its entire portfolio with the renewable energy technology.

Zara Realty said it has installed 3,000 panels across 26 of the 45 buildings it owns.

“Climate change is one of the most urgent crises facing our world and New York City will be particularly vulnerable to its effects,” said Amir Sobhraj, Zara’s co-managing partner. “We have a collective responsibility to do what is within our power to reduce carbon emissions, and as landlords we have a unique role to play.” 

Zara said it is on track to complete the entire project by the end of the year, when the panels will generate 2.7 million kilowatt hours of clean energy. The completed panels will produce 1.3 million kilowatt hours — enough to power 125 homes.

The company Premier Solar SolutionsPanels will install the panels on racks that lift above the roof lip and tilt to maximize efficiency.

 “The city and the state have laid out a path to being carbon-free, and this is precisely the type of work it will take to get there,”  said Chris Hoffmann founder of Premier Solar Solutions. “As a Queens native, it makes me so happy to see my home borough at the cutting edge of this effort to realize the goal of clean, renewable energy to ensure our future.”