NSW Government Makes Going Solar Simpler For Strata Owners 

New amendments passed in NSW’s Parliament on Tuesday will make it easier to install solar panels, batteries and other renewable energy technologies on strata buildings.

In 2019, the Berejiklian Government committed to making regulatory changes removing barriers that prevent people living in apartments from benefiting from solar power, energy storage and other sustainability related infrastructure. Last year, a survey was carried out for the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment as part of a study seeking to understand the barriers to installing such infrastructure in and on strata apartment buildings, townhouses and villas.

One of the barriers identified was the voting threshold. It’s my understanding that previously, 75% of owners would need give their blessing. In June last year, the Government introduced a Bill to reduce the voting threshold for sustainability infrastructure resolutions to a simple majority – and that has now passed.

Announcing the change, Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation, Kevin Anderson said:

“The reality is that apartment buildings have been held back when it comes to installing renewable energy, and that had to change. For too long the high voting thresholds needed to approve these types of installations has made it far too hard for owners and residents living in strata.”

The changes may not end there. Minister Anderson says the NSW Government will engage in further consultation with key stakeholders concerning any other barriers to implementing sustainable infrastructure in apartment buildings to ensure “there’s nothing else standing in the way”.

Minister Anderson appears to be referring to a process already occurring.

The discussion paper associated with the consultation mentions something on the cards is forbidding by-laws that prohibit or restrict the installation of sustainability infrastructure in certain circumstances. In Queensland, laws are already in place that nix by-laws prohibiting or restrict solar panel installations on the basis of aesthetics.

Other Solar Options For Strata Owners And Tenants

According to the NSW Liberals’ media release, 82,000 people live in strata buildings in NSW. That seems to be a very low number. The most recent Census put the number of apartment dwellers in the state at around 1.1 million – many of whom are yet to be able to access the emissions and bill-busting benefits of solar energy.

While installing panels may not always be possible or appropriate even with this recent change, other solutions are evolving.

“Solar gardens” involve getting people together who are unable to install solar panels on their own premises for whatever reason to form a co-operative, and building a small solar farm off-site that members of the group buy a stake in. Through an arrangement with an electricity retailer, their share of the array’s output is applied as a credit on their power bills.

These off-site projects could be just down the road, across town or even across the state. Among the projects on the boards is Haystacks Solar Garden in the NSW Riverina region;  which is being supported by Sydney’s Inner West Council.  In the Inner West LGA, which is around 500 kilometres away from the Haystacks site in Grong Grong, 44% of homes are apartments.