BALTIMORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 31, 2025--
Solar Landscape, the leading U.S. commercial rooftop solar developer, has energized 14 new community solar projects across Maryland, for a total capacity of 6.6 megawatts (MW), which is fed directly into the state’s power grid.
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The new installations are the first of Solar Landscape’s 57 projects in Maryland, all hosted on commercial rooftops, making it the largest group of community solar projects developed by a single company in Maryland. Once energized, they will collectively provide 55 megawatts (DC) of solar capacity, serving 5,870 homes.
Solar Landscape is now Maryland’s statewide leader in rooftop community solar, with nearly 50 percent of the state’s recent market share in the company's development pipeline.
“Community solar projects like the ones we’ve energized create jobs, reduce energy costs and help Maryland meet its energy needs,” said Solar Landscape CEO and co-founder Shaun Keegan. “Putting large solar installations on commercial rooftops is a smart, shovel-ready energy solution that also pays dividends to building owners.”
The newly energized projects are located in:
Commercial Rooftop Solar: Bringing Energy and Benefits to Maryland
The projects were interconnected by Baltimore Gas & Electric Company (BGE) and Pepco.
Hosting community solar projects on commercial rooftops delivers new sources of electricity to Maryland’s grid quickly without sacrificing its valuable agricultural land or open space. Commercial rooftop solar projects can typically be developed and built in 12 to 24 months, given faster interconnection times and modular setups.
As part of its community solar projects in Maryland, Solar Landscape supports the nationally recognized workforce development non-profit, STEP-UP. Together with Woodland Job Corps in Laurel, Maryland, STEP-UP hosted a three-day hands-on solar installation training in 2023 and plans to host another session in Maryland later this year.
In 2024 Solar Landscape leased 40 million square feet of commercial rooftop space in the U.S. The portfolio will require more than $1 billion in project financing and will serve as the foundation for 500 megawatts of solar capacity – enough to power 80,000 households. Solar Landscape now has over 80 partners that own over 2 billion square feet of commercial real estate nationwide.
Solar Landscape’s projects in Maryland will generate savings through solar credits on the utility bills of 5,870 homes across the state. Residents interested in signing up for community solar can visit www.solarlandscape.com.
About Solar Landscape
Solar Landscape is the premier commercial rooftop solar developer in the United States, partnering with the world’s largest real estate owners to develop, install, and operate solar projects. Recognized as the #1 Distributed Generation Developer of 2023 by New Project Media and awarded the U.S. Department of Energy’s Community Solar Grand Prize, Solar Landscape is shaping the future of clean energy. Headquartered in Asbury Park, NJ, the company also has offices in New York City, Chicago, Boston, and Baltimore. Visit www.solarlandscape.com for more information.
Solar Landscape energizes 14 new community solar projects in Maryland, part of a 57-installation portfolio.
It was at a relatively minor event in upstate New York in September 2022 that Ilia Malinin, the self-anointed “Quad God" who was fast becoming the biggest name in figure skating, finally landed the jump that so many people had thought impossible.
Others had tried quad axels in competition over the years. All of them had fallen. That extra 180 degrees of rotation — necessary for the only jump in skating that starts with a forward-facing entry — proved to be a half-revolution too much.
So when Malinin landed it inside the arena made famous by the U.S. hockey team's upset of the Soviets at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, it not only sent shockwaves through the tight-knit skating community but made headlines around the world.
“My mind was just blown,” said two-time Olympic skater Jason Brown.
Yet by conquering the gravity-defying jump, Malinin also raised an important question: What comes next?
The six main jumps in figure skating have been standard since the early 1900s. The only difference between then and now is the number of revolutions. Dick Button landed the first double axel in 1948, and the first triple jump four years later. Kurt Browning landed the first quad, a toe loop, in 1988, and it was 10 years before Timothy Goebel landed the first quad salchow.
By landing the quad axel, Malinin may have maxed out the boundaries of human performance. Most sports scientists agree that the speed and amplitude necessary for five-revolution jumps truly is impossible, leaving figure skating at a crossroads, where a dearth of innovation threatens to take the shine off a sport already fighting to maintain popularity.
“I think it's kind of natural that we were going to get to this point,” said Malinin, the overwhelming favorite to win gold for the U.S. at the Milan Cortina Olympics. "But I haven't reached my top, whether it's in the technical and how much I can jump and spin, but also in the creativity.”
Malinin, 20, points to his signature “raspberry twist,” a somersaulting spin unlike anything that anybody else does. He created it himself, and it tends to bring down the house whenever he throws it down near the end of his programs.
Yet the flashy maneuver also underscores one of the inherent problems with trying to be creative: It doesn't get rewarded.
The International Skating Union has rigid requirements for both short programs and free skates, and it rarely pays off to deviate too far from the script. Malinin might not get a lot of extra points for landing his raspberry twist, for example, since it is not one of the six standard figure skating jumps, but a failure to land it could cost him dearly.
“Absolutely, there are a lot of things I've wanted to try,” Malinin told The Associated Press, “because I think it would be really cool and appealing. But it's a bigger risk for the program itself, and the system and scoring means it doesn't make sense.”
In other words, what's the point in trying to innovate?
“There are so many rules in your programs that you don't have too much wiggle room,” said Alysa Liu, the reigning world champion. “A lot of these rules really restrict us. Like, all of our spins look the same now, but they could look so different."
“One of my training mates, Sonja Himler, does these incredible programs," added Amber Glenn, a three-time U.S. champion, and along with Liu one of the favorites to win Olympic gold for the American team in February.
“Like, she spins the other way, jumps the other way — really cool things that, you know, someone who's watched a little bit of skating will be like, ‘Oh, I’ve never seen that before,'” Glenn said. “Whereas if I go and do, you know, the norm, and do it well, versus what she does, my scores will be better, even though what she does is way more impressive, in my opinion.”
Justin Dillon, the manager of high performance at U.S. Figure Skating, acknowledged having had hard conversations with some skaters about their programs. They may have planned something unique or interesting, but the risk wouldn't be worth the reward.
“I encourage individuality, and bringing it to the ice,” Dillon said, “but if they do something so avant-garde that it doesn't check those boxes, then it really doesn't serve them. It doesn't always mean throw it out, but what can we do to make it a home run?”
To its credit, figure skating's governing body has loosened some restrictions in recent years. The backflip, which was long banned in competition because of its inherent danger, is allowed now, though it also doesn't carry a whole lot of scoring weight.
Is that hold-your-breath element of risk and uncertainty the next big step in skating?
“I mean, you're cringing. It legit scares me," Glenn said of the backflip. “If you can do it, great. I think it's so fun. I want to learn it once I'm done competing. But the thought of practicing it in like, a warmup or in training, it just scares me.”
Brown has never been able to consistently land quad jumps in competition. Instead, he relies on near-perfect execution of triple jumps, along with arguably the best artistry in figure skating, to consistently challenge for podium placements in major competitions.
Maybe, Brown mused, the next innovation in figure skating has nothing to do with extreme feats of athletic ability.
“I have so much respect for the ways in which people are pushing the sport technically,” he said, "but I think the more that people fixate on executing an element, the less risk people take artistically, because they’re already taking these risks technically. And it is very hard to do both. So maybe the next step for figure skating is to reward the story we're trying to tell."
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Amber Glenn skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Amber Glenn skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Ilia Malinin skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Ilia Malinin competes during the men's free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Ilia Malinin competes during the men's short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
