Australia is a rooftop solar leader, but 2.5 million apartment residents are missing out

Australia leads the world in rooftop solar adoption, yet that success has not translated evenly to people who live in apartment buildings.

That leaves many residents without a practical way to lower their power bills while also reducing their household carbon footprint.

What's happening?

According to The Guardian, the country's home-solar surge has overwhelmingly favored detached housing over apartments and units.

Around 2.5 million people who live in apartments or units are affected by that disparity.

Research from Energy Consumers Australia shows solar panels are installed at far higher rates on detached and semi-detached homes than on apartments and units — 39% versus 6%.

The same pattern appears with batteries, with adoption at 7% in houses and 3% in apartments or units.

Pointing to the findings, Ashley Bradshaw, Energy Consumers Australia's executive manager for advocacy and analysis, said, "The research is pretty clear that most of the solar we have on homes today is on stand-alone homes."

Instead of making a decision for a single property, apartment residents may have to sort through common-property arrangements, roof-sharing questions, body corporate requirements, and electricity metering issues.

Why does it matter?

For many residents, the biggest impact is financial.

Solar can lower electricity bills, and batteries can help households get even more value from the power they generate. Without access to those technologies, apartment residents can miss out on meaningful savings.

There is also an equity issue. Renters and lower-income households can run into even more obstacles, further widening the gap between people who can readily benefit from clean energy and those who cannot.

Solar may be harder to organize in apartment buildings, but that does not mean the buildings are poor fits for it.

Allume Energy chief executive and co-founder Cameron Knox said many lower-rise properties actually have strong potential because "these buildings often have plentiful roof space for solar" and often face fewer shading issues than standalone homes.

What's being done?

In apartment complexes, solar can be arranged in two broad ways: separate systems connected to individual flats, or shared installations whose electricity is divided among residents or directed to common spaces such as lifts, foyers, and gyms.

One example is Allume's SolShare system, which Knox described as a "traffic controller for solar."

It distributes electricity from a shared solar setup across multiple apartments while allowing residents to keep their own electricity retailer. In Australia, the company says it has linked solar to more than 6,600 apartments.

New incentives in New South Wales, Victoria, and the Australian Capital Territory could also make projects more appealing.

Getting a project approved can also depend on persuading other owners.

Kate Nicolazzo, director of the social change agency Let Me Be Frank, said installing solar on apartment buildings is "just a completely different kettle of fish," especially when voting thresholds, bylaws, switchboard upgrades, and roof repairs enter the picture.

Bradshaw also pointed out that solar is not the only path to savings. Apartment residents can still lower bills by switching electricity plans, moving to electric appliances, and making smaller efficiency upgrades that fit their building and budget.

As Bradshaw put it, "There are lots of ways you can look to save money on your electricity bill." 

And for people trying to navigate apartment energy choices, "It's basically about thinking what's best for your circumstances."

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