Apartment Solar Case Study

Ocean Street, Woollahra

Local resident Hamish shares his apartment block's experience with installing a rooftop solar system.

About your block and the system installed

• Number of units = 14
• Roof type = tile
• Solar system size and details = 32kW system with Allume SolShare unit
• Installed = late 2023

What motivated you and others in your block to install solar panels?

We were keen to bring down our energy bills and increase our property values. Reducing emissions was an extra benefit but not a key factor in our decision.

There was a clear business case for the project as the energy produced is divided up amongst our residents by the solar sharing technology. Also, we had information from Domain Real Estate about the increase in property values for apartments with sustainability features. This was an important driver, especially for owner investors in the block. As we had funds available in our sinking fund there were no additional costs for owners.

Who helped to get the project going in your block?

As I have a background in project management I suggested we install solar, did some initial research and helped to keep the momentum going. Then we had technical support from product suppliers and installers.

What tips would you give to people in other blocks interested to install solar?

Start by doing your own research. It is important to engage the strata members early. It is really helpful to have someone with technical expertise in apartment solar attend a strata meeting to help address questions and concerns. We had good support from Allume about how the sharing technology works and this helped build confidence.

When it’s time to source quotes search for trusted installers to make sure you’re getting quality products and service. As we had a significant variation in the quotes we first received, we put the project out to tender again to verify the pricing.

As you approach installation, if you have an old tile roof like ours make sure the installers are prepared to replace any broken tiles whilst they are on the roof. They also need to have permissions from the owners to do this work.

What was your biggest challenge in the project?

The biggest challenge was initially getting the strata group on board. This took time. I joined the strata committee and started talking to people about the project idea. People needed an opportunity to ask about their concerns. Most of these can be addressed quite easily if you’ve done your research first. Once people started to feel confident about the benefits they got excited about the project and it gathered momentum.

We also needed to be patient - from the first time it was raised at the AGM to installation it took us around 18 months. This was partly due to the time it took to get extra quotes, but we wanted to make sure we had a quality system that benefited everyone.

How is the system going?

The system is working well for us and has generated over 31,700 kWh of energy since installation in late 2023. This is similar to the overall energy consumption for our block but some of the energy we produced was exported to the grid as obviously people are also using power when the sun goes down.