Apartment Solar In ACT: $50,000 Rebate Announced

Solar PV on apartment buildings is a persistent conundrum because the roof ownership is shared.

If only some apartment owners want to install solar on the shared roof you need permission from the other owners.

With luck the other owners will simply agree to give you your share of the roof for the panels. This can work on small apartment blocks. For example the body-corporate of a 4-unit block could agree that you can have 25% of the roof.

If that’s not doable you can rent the roof you need. This post links to a free, professionally drafted contract for renting the roof which you can modify to your own needs (but still get professional legal help).

If you have a larger apartment block and you want to install a system that everyone benefits from, Solshare is one of many apartment solar configuration options – but all the options add tens of thousands to the installation cost.

Cognisant of the extra costs involved in apartment solar, the ACT government is working with the federal government to help fund solar power on apartment blocks.

From the third quarter of 2023, bodies corporate will be able to access a total of $100,000 support: $50,000 will be in the form of a low-interest loan from the ACT government, via its Sustainable Household Scheme; and $50,000 will be a rebate or grant delivered through the commonwealth government’s Solar Banks initiative.

The ACT government expects the program to cost $3.6 million.

In a media release, the ACT said the program would benefit more than 2100 households, estimating that apartment-dwellers could see a 35 percent reduction in their power bills.

The program is part of an $80 million boost to the Sustainable Household Scheme, announced in this week’s territory budget.

Just how many apartment buildings will get solar under the program is an interesting question.

Sharp-eyed readers will work out that $3.6 million won’t cover all the apartments in the ACT. Without giving precise eligibility, this announcement about the program says 92% of apartments are expected to be eligible.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr told the ABC (video): “We are targeting this scheme. So, it’s not for your multimillion-dollar apartments that nestle around Parliament House.”

By SolarQuotes’ napkin maths, the scheme will be skewed towards apartment buildings with more than 50 units – in order to fit the budget allocated.