Why you can't just put panels on the roof
In a strata scheme, the roof, external walls and most common infrastructure are common property owned collectively by all owners and managed by the owners corporation (also called a body corporate). An individual apartment owner cannot unilaterally install rooftop solar for their own unit, because they do not own the roof and cannot allocate common property to their private benefit without the scheme's approval. That is why the "just get solar" advice aimed at houses simply does not translate to apartments.
This does not mean apartments are shut out of solar — it means the pathway runs through the owners corporation rather than the individual. The realistic options are a shared system that benefits common areas, a shared system whose output is allocated to units, or solar delivered through an embedded network. Each needs a collective decision, and usually a formal vote.
The models that work in a building
- Common-property solar
- Panels power shared loads — lifts, car park lighting, pumps, common-area power. Savings flow to the owners corporation and cut everyone's strata levies. The simplest model to approve because it does not require splitting output between units.
- Shared solar with allocation
- A larger system whose generation is apportioned to individual apartments, often via a behind-the-meter arrangement or embedded network with smart metering. More complex, but residents see it on their own bills.
- Embedded network solar
- The building operates as an embedded network and installs solar that feeds the internal network, on-selling the cheaper power to residents. Can lower rates but ties into embedded-network trade-offs around retailer choice.
- Virtual / community arrangements
- Emerging models let residents share a system's output or subscribe to it. Availability varies by state and network, so check what your distributor supports.
How to get solar happening in your building
- Raise it with the owners corporation or committee — solar on common property is a collective decision, so it starts with the scheme, not an individual.
- Commission a feasibility assessment: roof space and orientation, structural capacity, the building's common-area load, and how output would be metered and allocated.
- Choose a model — common-property only is simplest to approve; allocation to units or an embedded network delivers more to residents but adds complexity.
- Pass the required resolution: solar usually needs a formal vote, and the majority threshold depends on your state's strata laws and whether it counts as a common-property change.
- Factor in metering: allocating solar to individual units needs smart or embedded-network metering, which is a real cost to weigh against the savings.
Solar plus the right plan
Shared solar changes the sums, but it does not remove the need for a good electricity plan behind it. For common-property solar, the owners corporation still buys grid power for everything the panels do not cover, and that account should be on a competitive plan. For residents in a building with allocated or embedded-network solar, the value of that solar depends heavily on the rate you pay for the rest of your usage and any feed-in arrangement.
Whether it is the owners corporation's common-area account or an individual resident's bill, comparing the whole market on real usage is how you make sure the solar saving is not quietly eaten by an overpriced plan. EnergySorted compares the full market on actual usage for a flat annual fee and takes no retailer commissions, so a strata committee or an individual owner can check they are on the cheapest plan to sit alongside whatever solar the building manages to install.