A housing cooperative in the Sydney suburb of Newtown will make Australian history with the installation of a full solar storage system that will power the housing complex.
The project, funded by the City of Sydney, will power the residential student accommodation which makes up eight units. The Sydney Council has said that it will be the first of its kind in Australia.
The Stucco student co-operative is located on Wilson Street just a short distance from the University of Sydney, where the majority of the residents study.
Funding for the purchase and installation of the solar system is part of an environmental grant that aims to increase the adoption of renewable energy sources in Sydney.
Lord Mayor Clover Moore has described the venture as innovative and an investment that will help renewable technologies reach the mainstream market.
“Offering grants like this allows us to work with enthusiastic members of our community to speed up cuts to carbon pollution” said Ms Moore.
“We value action on climate change and strive to live sustainably. Including battery storage… is a great way to manage a flow of clean energy that will cover over two-thirds of our electricity use” says Stucco resident, Louise van Rensburg.
When planning for the project, Stucco researched for previous examples of complete solar storage systems in multi-unit dwelling, only to be surprised with not one result in Australia.
Australia has the highest rate of household solar in the world, around 15 percent, however strata and multi-unit dwellings have a much lower rate than regular stand alone houses.
“Based on this information it is highly unlikely a project such as this has been undertaken in Australia” said Mike Roberts of the UNSW renewable energy research department.
Although the project’s developers were aware that the solar upgrades to the housing co-operative were fairly rare in the area, it was especially surprising and exciting to know it was a first for Australia.
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In terms of unit blocks using solar, the percentage is much lower than individual houses, due to the obstacles of body corporate regulations and the percentage of units rented being much higher as well.
Research from SGS Economics & Planning revealed that supply of housing in Sydney since March 2011 has been 36 per cent detached houses, 19 per cent townhouses and 45 per cent units.
As multi unit dwellings are growing in number around Australia far more rapidly than stand alone houses, the focus on increasing the solar usage for new developments makes sense for both financial and environmental reasons.
Source: stucco.org.au
