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Our 4 unit, Over 55s, self-managed strata block is considering installing a 2kW solar array for common area electricity and allocating the rest of the roof on a ‘first in, best dressed’ basis to each of the 4 apartment owners for their own 2kW (8 solar panel) array.
There is space on the northern slope of the roof, which is along the side boundary, for all of the panels except for one array of 8 which will have to be placed on the east facing slope which faces the street.
As the panels will be flush with the roof, I think they will be complying development but we will need a new by-law covering the allocation of parts of the roof space to the individual owners. If anyone has a draft of a suitable by-law, that would be very helpful.
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I am less au fait with NSW bylaws and requirements. I’d just suggest that since you are allocating areas of common property to the individual units, that you allocate the same area for each unit, whether that unit wants its 2KW array now or not.
Would it be obvious who should get which bit of roof for practical matters such as wiring back to individual unit meters? If there is no obvious practical basis for allocation of space then drawing from a hat or something like that sounds fair. I would worry about ‘first in, best dressed’ when it comes to allocating a use of common property. I suggest you make sure it is as equitable as practical for the four units.
A motivator for all units to do it at once would be the economy of scale of having the installer on site to do all at once.
I am 100 percent in agreement with Peter on the “first in, best dressed’ principle which is not only ‘old school’ (in a bad way) but is bad strata management.
If the roof is common property, so should the solar panels and the electricity they generate. There must be a way of sharing the benefit, perhaps by distributing the electricity more equitably.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
This link may help to answer your questions:
https://greenstrata.com.au/case/solar-power-common-property-personal-use-wallisview
As already noted by others on this forum it would not be fair to leave the one apartment, which is vacant, out of the process. They may opt not to participate but at least your endeavours to include them will be on the Minutes and should prevent any future negative blow back.
Best of luck with your solar plans.
My understanding of the issue would be that changes to the Community Management Statement (i.e. By laws) would be paid by the Owner’s Corp for the simple reason that the Owner’s Corp would have to have approved the new By law before it was registered.
To change a By law or create a new By law a special resolution is needed, which means no more than 25 per cent of votes are cast against the motion at a general meeting of the owners corporation. In your situation 3 out of 4 Lot owners would need to vote for the new By law.
By-laws are changed or created by the Owner’s Corp for the better enjoyment or management of the strata scheme as a whole.The By law would not therefore be paid for by only the early adopters. The ‘wait and see’ Lot owners, or future owners of these Lots, would still have the option of installing solar panels at a later time, albeit not in the most ideal location on the common property roof.
Notification of any new or changed by-law must be given to the Registrar General’s Office. This can be done by lodging a ‘Change of By-Laws’ form, which is available from the Land and Property Information website at http://www.lpi.nsw.gov.au (see Starta Scheme Forms) and
This might be an opportunity for your Owners to have a look at ALL your by-laws and do a ‘clean up’ of those that are redundant. Many often are. Laws change, attitudes change … pets, and flooring are just two examples.
It should cost the same to do one change as it does many. It may save costs for you down the line.
Does anyone out there in Strataland (NSW) have experience with installation of solar panels and related storage batteries by either individual resident owners or by Owners’ Corporations? The question has been asked by one townhouse owner who claims there could also be discounts for group installations. My concerns are the initial cost outlay which needs to be recouped before there is any saving; the installation on common property – roofs, garage walls etc.; by-laws that may be necessary. It goes on..
Kenny R – My thoughts are: The OC owns the roof as common property. The OC may consider purchasing and installing their own panels to provide electricity for the common property i.e. stairs, lifts etc. The OC would not own the solar panels that provide electricity for the individual Lots.
The OC does not need to involve itself in any bulk purchase of these units as this is a matter for the individual owners should they wish to band together. The Lot owners would purchase their own panels, not the OC. Not every Lot owner may wish to participate.
If a Lot owner wishes to install a solar panel then they should seek permission to place their panels on the OC common property roof. This must be done BEFORE they purchase the solar panels.
Permission could be granted by the OC via the issuing of a [s112] license, or a [s113] lease, to use the common property. This permission is granted via a Special Resolution at a General Meeting.
I do not believe that approval for the panels could come from [s108] as the purpose of the solar panels is not to ‘enhance the common property’.
108 Changes to common property
(1) Procedure for authorising changes to common property An owners corporation or an owner of a lot in a strata scheme may add to the common property, alter the common property or erect a new structure on common property for the purpose of improving or enhancing the common property.
The conditions for the grant of a license or a lease by the OC to the Lot owner would need to be well thought out and should cover every possible eventuality such as damage to the roof etc. This is to protect the interests of the OC.
112 Owners corporation may grant licence to use common property
(1) An owners corporation may grant a licence to an owner or occupier of a lot in the strata scheme or another person to use common property in a particular manner or for particular purposes if the owners corporation has approved the granting of the licence by a special resolution.
(2) A licence may be granted subject to terms and conditions.
Note : Division 3 of Part 7 enables owners corporations to make common property rights by-laws granting exclusive use rights and special privileges (including licences) in relation to common property.
(3) Without limiting this section, a licence may be granted under an agreement with the local council for a strata parking area under section 650A of the Local Government Act 1993 .
113 Agreement for payment to owner of consideration on transfer or lease of common property
An owners corporation may, in accordance with a special resolution, make an agreement with an owner for the payment to the owner of:
(a) the whole or any part of the consideration under any transaction proposed to be entered into by the owners corporation under Division 6 of Part 2 of the Strata Schemes Development Act 2015 , or
(b) any money payable to the owners corporation under a common property rights by-law.
A Lease, or Licence, and a Special By-law would need to be created for the solar panels. An example of a By-law is here, however, the wording cannot be relied upon as being the best possible wording available:
https://greenstrata.com.au/sites/default/files/documents/WallisView%20Special%20By-Law.pdf
There may be other sections in the SSMA 2015 which may provide assistance and guidance for your scheme.
Thanks Lady Penelope – good advice. I have also spoken with our Strata Manager who supports our view that this is more about the individual’s benefit rather than the OC or other owners. We will advise this owner to do the research which should discourage any further action.
Another model would be for the OC to own all the PV, one for common property use and four x 2KW. The OC then provides a connection from one 2KW section to each of the four units. The OC would be providing a utility service to each unit (which is assume is covered in the strata legislation in most places). Minor on-going costs would be met by the OC such as occasional cleaning or any periodic inspection that might be required by the electricity network.
Each unit could do as it pleases with the electricity so supplied: put it in a battery at the unit if they want to, or just use as much as possible when it is being made by running equipment by day, or export it through the unit’s meter for whatever tariff that unit owner can get.
BTW. In the ACT (UTMA2011 s.23), the OC can install sustainability equipment on common property with a single ordinary resolution of a general meeting so long as various matters are addressed in the proposal – a siting map or diagram, a statement of costs and benefits, how it is to be funded, and so on.
Agreed, Sir Humphrey. I guess the support for the option that you raised would come down to whether there were a majority of owner occupiers in the strata scheme, or a majority of tenants.
Being that electricity is metered individually and is therefore usually a cost born by the occupant of a Lot, a non-resident owner would probably be less enthusiastic about paying for the installation of solar panels that a tenant would be getting the benefit from.
Yes, tenants could complicate but if the unit might be more attractive to tenants if the electricity is cheaper or the owner might be able to charge more for a unit with lower utility costs.
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