Energy & Solar Law
Project development agreements, power purchase agreements, EPC contracts, and site control. Counsel for solar installers, developers, and clean energy companies, grounded in how renewable projects actually get built.
The Practice
A solar or renewable project lives inside a stack of contracts that arrive long before the first panel goes up. The development agreement, the power purchase agreement, the EPC contract, the interconnection paperwork, the land lease. Each is drafted by someone whose interests are not yours, and each carries terms that quietly shape cost, timeline, and ownership for the life of the project.
Lawyers in this practice handle the transactional and business-side work that keeps a clean energy project moving. Structuring the development entity, drafting and reviewing the PPA, papering the EPC and equipment supply contracts, securing site control through leases and easements, and coordinating the financing and incentive structure with your tax advisors. The work is practical and commercial, built around how projects are actually developed and operated.
The goal is straightforward. Get the foundational documents right so the project pencils out and stays bankable, and stay on call for the next project, the next portfolio, and the next round of growth.
Why It Matters
PPAs, EPC contracts, and equipment supply agreements are drafted by the offtaker, the contractor, or the manufacturer. The developer signs the version handed to them. A careful review surfaces the pricing, milestone, and warranty terms worth negotiating before signature.
A project with weak land rights is a project that can collapse late. Leases, options, and easements have to give the developer clean, durable control of the site through development, construction, and the full operating term.
Tax credits, grants, and other incentives can swing whether a project pencils out at all. The structure decided early, in coordination with your tax advisors, changes the financing and the returns.
Interconnection agreements and permitting requirements determine when a project can connect and operate. Getting the applications and compliance paperwork right keeps the schedule intact and avoids costly delays.
Equipment warranties, performance guarantees, and O&M obligations run for the life of the project. The documents have to allocate that long-tail risk clearly so a failure years out has a clear remedy.
A PPA priced badly costs money every month it stays in force. A poorly structured development entity takes years to unwind. Getting the foundational documents right saves the next several projects.
Services
Nine service areas covering the transactional and business-side legal work most relevant to solar installers, renewable developers, and clean energy companies. Engagements are scoped to the project, ongoing counsel is available for clients with active pipelines.
Before a project breaks ground, the development framework has to protect the developer. Lawyers draft and review development agreements, joint development arrangements, and the milestone and option terms that govern a project from origination through construction.
The PPA is the revenue contract that makes a project financeable. Lawyers draft and review PPAs and offtake arrangements on the developer's side: pricing, term, performance obligations, and the conditions that govern delivery and exit.
Engineering, procurement, and construction contracts set who carries the build risk. Lawyers structure and review EPC and installation agreements: scope, milestones, completion guarantees, change orders, and the warranty terms that follow the project.
Interconnection and permitting determine when and how a project can operate. Lawyers handle interconnection agreements and the permitting and regulatory compliance paperwork, coordinating the applications so the project stays on schedule.
A project is only as solid as its land rights. Lawyers structure and review site leases, options, purchase agreements, and easements that give the developer durable control of the site through development and the full operating term.
Panels, inverters, and storage hardware arrive under supply contracts that allocate cost and risk for years. Lawyers review equipment supply and procurement agreements, warranty terms, and the delivery and performance provisions that protect the project.
Tax credits, incentives, and financing structure can decide whether a project gets built. Lawyers structure the financing and incentive arrangements in coordination with your tax advisors, and review the lender and investor documentation.
How a project and its portfolio are held shapes liability, financing, and ownership. Lawyers form the project entities, holding structures, and joint ventures that isolate risk and match how the projects will be developed and owned.
For developers and investors, projects change hands as assets and portfolios. Lawyers handle acquisitions, dispositions, and portfolio transactions, including diligence, structuring, and the agreements that move projects between owners.
Who We Work With
Installation contracts, equipment supply agreements, customer documentation, and the business-side counsel that keeps an installation company growing cleanly.
Development agreements, PPAs, site control, and the entity structuring that takes a project from origination through financing and construction.
Supply and procurement contracts, performance and warranty terms, project agreements, and the structures that support storage development and deployment.
Subscriber arrangements, site leases, interconnection paperwork, and the contracts that make a community solar program work.
Entity structuring, financing documentation, acquisitions, and the diligence and portfolio counsel that goes with investing in renewable assets.
EPC and construction contracts, subcontracts, equipment agreements, and the business-side documents that keep a build-side company protected.
How It Works
Most engagements start with a single project or contract. The relationship grows from there, or doesn't, depending on what you need.
01
Your lawyer learns the project, the site, the offtake, and the financing picture. This is the conversation that shapes the structure.
45-60 minutes
02
Lawyers review the PPA or EPC contract on the table, or draft the one you need. Plain-English summary of the risks and the terms worth negotiating.
3-7 business days
03
Lawyers handle the back-and-forth with the offtaker's or contractor's counsel, or sit beside you while you negotiate. You keep the relationship; the lawyer holds the legal line.
Varies by deal
04
Final review, signature, financing and interconnection coordination, and the entity and permitting filings the project requires. Documents land in your MyRelevant portal.
1-3 business days
05
Most energy clients come back. Lawyers stay on call for the next project, the lease renewal, the supply contract that needs revisiting, and the portfolio expansion down the road.
Ongoing
Client Portal
MyRelevant is the client portal for managing the legal side of a clean energy business. Documents in one place, renewal alerts before lease and supply terms expire, direct messaging with your lawyer, and the audit trail every developer eventually wishes they had.
Every PPA, lease, and EPC contract in one place. Searchable, dated, and accessible from anywhere.
Automatic alerts before lease terms expire, supply contracts auto-renew, or permitting deadlines arrive.
Send a contract for a quick read without scheduling a meeting. Most reviews come back in two to three business days.
Project agreements, financing documents, and sensitive correspondence stored with the security a major project requires.
Message your lawyer directly through the portal — direct answers without waiting on callbacks.
Active projects, pending signatures, and recent closings tracked in one view so nothing falls through.
Frequently Asked
For any meaningful project, yes. The PPA, the EPC contract, the site lease, the interconnection paperwork, and the financing documents all carry risk if handled loosely. A lawyer's involvement is modest against the size and term of the project.
Yes, on the developer's side. PPAs set pricing, term, performance obligations, and the conditions that govern delivery and exit. These are often drafted by the offtaker, and a careful review surfaces what's worth negotiating before you sign.
It depends on how the project will be financed, your liability concerns, and your ownership goals. Common structures include project LLCs, holding entities, and joint ventures. Your lawyer walks through the tradeoffs and sets up the structure that fits.
Lawyers structure the financing and incentive arrangements with the tax consequences in mind and coordinate with your tax advisors on credits, grants, and how the structure affects the deal. The structure is best decided early, not after the project is underway.
A project needs durable rights to the land through development, construction, and the full operating term. Lawyers structure and review leases, options, purchase agreements, and easements so the developer holds clean control of the site.
Yes. Lawyers handle interconnection agreements and the permitting and regulatory compliance paperwork, coordinating the applications so the project stays on schedule. This is application and compliance work, not a substitute for your engineering team.
Yes. For developers and investors, lawyers handle project acquisitions and sales, portfolio transactions, diligence, and structuring, all on the transactional and business side.
Related Services
Next Steps
Schedule a confidential consultation. The first call is a conversation about the project in front of you, how it's typically structured, and what's worth getting right before you sign.
State Disclosures
Virginia: Legal services in Virginia are provided by independently owned and operated Virginia law firms doing business as Relevant Law. The responsible licensed Virginia lawyer and office address for each Virginia location are listed on that location's office page.
Washington: The Supreme Court of Washington does not recognize specialties in the practice of law, and no representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.
Relevant Law offices are independently owned and operated by licensed attorneys.