Solar for apartments and strata buildings in Australia 2026.

The 30-second take

• Individual apartment-on-roof solar is rarely viable — roof access goes through strata, not the owner.
• Common areas (lift, lobby, garage) can have shared solar — bills paid by strata, often saves the building 20–40%.
• Embedded networks: a private grid behind the meter; the building buys wholesale and on-sells to apartments.
• NSW Solar Gardens: subscribe to off-site solar and get bill credits as if you had panels.
• Three-step strata approval: special resolution, by-law amendment, install. Plan for 6–12 months.

Why apartments are different

In a freestanding house, the roof is yours and the electrical connection is yours. In an apartment, the roof is common property (controlled by strata), and the building usually has a mix of individual apartment meters plus a separate "common area" meter for lifts, lobby, garage, pool.

That structural difference is why apartments make up roughly 10% of AU dwellings but a much smaller share of solar installs. The hardware works the same — it’s the approval and ownership path that’s harder.

Three apartment-solar models

Three patterns that work in 2026, depending on your building.

• Common-area solar. Strata installs solar on the building roof and uses it to power lift, lobby, garage, pool. Bills go to strata, savings flow back to owners via reduced strata fees. The simplest model — no individual-apartment electrical changes needed. Federal STCs and most state rebates apply at the building level.
• Embedded networks (shared solar). The building runs its own private grid behind the master meter. Strata buys wholesale electricity, the building’s solar feeds into the private grid, and each apartment buys from strata at a fixed (usually cheaper) rate. More complex setup — needs an embedded network licence — but delivers individual-apartment savings.
• Solar gardens (off-site). You subscribe to a share of a community-scale solar farm and receive bill credits on your normal retail electricity bill, as if you had panels. NSW has the most-developed Solar Gardens program. Useful when your building won’t install solar but you want the carbon and bill benefit.

The strata approval process

In NSW, VIC, QLD, and most states, installing solar on common property requires a special resolution at a strata committee meeting (typically 75% in favour, depending on the state). Three steps:

• 1. Build the proposal. Get a Solar Select-matched quote for the building, model the strata-fee saving, present the federal + state rebate stack. Make it concrete.
• 2. Get a by-law amendment if needed. Some buildings need a by-law update to allow solar on common property. This goes through the same special resolution.
• 3. Special resolution vote at AGM or EGM. Bring the quote, the savings model, the rebate stack, and ideally another committee member as a co-sponsor.
• Plan for 6–12 months end to end. Some committees move faster — most don’t.

Rebates and incentives that apply

Federal STCs apply to apartment-roof solar the same as any other install — the rebate is calculated on system size, not building type. The Cheaper Home Batteries Program applies to embedded-network batteries.

State rebates vary and change often. Victoria’s Solar Homes Program has a strata-eligible stream. In NSW, Empowering Homes has closed and been replaced by Home Energy Saver. Queensland’s Battery Booster has closed. Check the relevant state government site for the current state of play before relying on any of them.

Read next

• Solar for renters
• Federal STCs explained
• See solar panels

Sources

• cleanenergyregulator.gov.au — STC eligibility
• energy.nsw.gov.au — Solar Gardens
• solar.vic.gov.au — strata eligibility