Exploring How to Get More Solar & Batteries at Apartment Buildings
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There’s no doubt about it — one of the toughest places to increase cleantech adoption is apartment buildings. Well, maybe.
The problem is that people living in apartments don’t have the roof space for installing solar, often don’t have the ownership incentives to do so, and also often don’t have dedicated parking spaces for installing EV chargers — and again don’t have the long-term commitment that often comes with home ownership. However, there are always solutions if you look hard enough. Maybe.
A pilot study in Sydney, Australia, is trying to help crack this apartment nut when it comes to deploying more solar power and batteries. Researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Canberra as well as private companies Voltval and JT Solar Technology are focused on making more efficient and effective systems, while also making it easier for apartment dwellers to rap benefits.
The pilot study involves deploying and testing “an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered modular power portal system (MPPS) to improve energy flow between apartments,” as pv magazine writes. “Answering the need of 2.5 million Australian apartment dwellers nationwide, including one in three in NSW where just 3.5% of apartment dwellers have access to rooftop solar, and regulatory hurdles render plug-in balcony solar systems illegal, the pilot is using an MPPS developed by Voltval and JT Solar Technology, which forecasts energy generation and demand, coordinates distributed energy resources, and balances electricity flows between apartments in real-time.”
I’m not sure of the details of how this deployment and research are going to increase solar and battery uptake among apartment renters, but the basic idea seems to be better prediction of energy use across apartments and creating a better shared network — leading to lower costs and more adoption. “Backed by a AUD 1.2 million ($830,000) grant from the Australian Department of Education’s (DoE’s) Trailblazer Recycling & Clean Energy (TRaCE) program, the UNSW Canberra researchers’ advanced AI layer will better predict and improve energy use across multiple properties, making the platform smarter, more efficient and ready for real-world use.”
Associate Professor Huadong Mo from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Canberra thinks their system will lower operating costs of such clean power systems in apartment buildings by as much as 30%, and thus increase adoption. “The next phase of Australia’s clean energy transition will depend on ensuring that apartment residents can participate in the benefits of distributed energy resources,” Mo adds.
Other companies involved in this pilot study include: Beaumont Strata Management, Ocean Building Management, One Stop Warehouse, Piper Alderman, SAJ Electric, and Squared-X.
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