Many Victorians living in apartments face long standing structural, technical and governance barriers that limit their access to renewable and affordable electricity compared with residents of detached homes. Although consumer energy resources (CER) such as rooftop solar, batteries and virtual power plants have matured, uptake in multi-unit dwellings remains slow. Targeted programs like Solar for Apartments now offer a platform for accelerated deployment, provided complementary reforms are made to strata approval processes, metering and allocation rules and consumer protections.
In its response to the Inquiry, the Clean Energy Council recommends a package of six reforms to expand CER access for apartment residents, including streamlined owners corporation rules, standardised solar and storage allocation agreements, scaling Solar for Apartments with storage and VPP readiness, embedding CEC-accredited products and protections in all publicly funded projects, updating planning and building codes to support electrification, and creating market arrangements for community batteries and VPP participation in multi-unit buildings. Collectively, these reforms would improve affordability for apartment renters and social housing tenants while supporting Victoria’s renewable energy and emissions reduction goals.
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