Melbourne high-rises limited to preserve solar installations
Melbourne picturesque skyline looks set to remain unchanged in an effort to preserve the feasibility of solar for urban rooftops. A report in The Age confirms that the Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure is reviewing planning and building provisions that could affect existing solar power installations. Development of new high-rise buildings or extensions to existing ones may have to conform to regulations that will consider previously installed solar panels to compensate for the resulting shadows cast.
Solar uptake has increased with the rising costs of electricity, and a recent study by Melbourne City Council found that of all the of low-level commercial buildings and warehouse rooftops in the CBD, Carlton, Kensington and Fisherman’s Bend only 20% of available space would be needed to produce enough solar power for 100 solar parks.
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has called for clearer guidelines for determining acceptable levels of overshadowing after a proposal in Kensington to build two double-storey houses was rejected when a neighbour complained the structure would partially eclipse his rooftop panels.
Clean Energy Council policy manager Darren Gladman predicts similar complaints will increase in future as more companies install solar power as a means of reducing operating costs.
”When people are investing hundreds of dollars it’s one thing, but when they’re spending hundreds of thousands of dollars they will not be pleased if that investment is compromised,” said Mr Gladman. Many businesses find that installing solar pays for itself within five years, provided they see the returns through energy cost reduction.
Councillor and sustainable business expert Arron Wood has been conducting talks with many heavy energy users, including universities and hospitals, about investing in solar farms throughout Melbourne and regional Victoria. The investment would be part of the council’s new Zero Net Emissions strategy that aims to make the city’s energy ratio 25 per cent renewable by 2018.