Increasing the uptake of solar photovoltaics in strata residential developments

This project will develop governance models to allow shared solar photovoltaics (PV), battery and monitoring systems to be used in medium density apartments. The governance models will be tested at 50 units of the White Gum Valley development in Perth.

Need

The future energy market will consist of increasing levels of distributed energy. While rooftop solar has become widely accepted by the residential housing market, issues with shared ownership, lack of available frameworks and pricing incentives have prevented renewable energy to be taken up in apartments and other strata developments.

Few multi-unit solar-storage developments with shared governance currently exist and there is no clear Australian model for how to run them.

Project innovation

The governance models developed will examine the shared benefits, risks and costs between developers, owners, tenants, strata bodies and utilities. The models will also include the energy system design, billing, legal addendums for dwelling purchasers and dwelling leases.

The financial aspects of the governance models will be studied, tested and demonstrated in three different strata lot developments.  The models developed are expected to be adaptable and scalable to suit different development types.

Benefit

The project will provide scalable and generalisable models for shared ownership of solar and stroage in medium density developments. The White Gum Valley site will serve as a demonstration of the effectiveness of the governance model in enabling greater solar PV and storage to be adopted across apartment housing in Western Australia and across other parts of Australia.