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>With solar balconies, no such consent is required unless the facade is listed as of historic interest or there is a specific prohibition from the residents’ as

>With solar balconies, no such consent is required unless the facade is listed as of historic interest or there is a specific prohibition from the residents’ association or the local authority. In Australia, there is no chance you'd get away with this since basically every strata bylaw document bans non typical balcony furnature and its a struggle to just get those fake plant wall coverings or even hanging your clothes out to dry.

nielsole 2y ago
While that stance is about Spain, in Germany only a recent law change brought about by a petition has given balcony solar privileged status, making it harder for landlords to forbid them. Change is possible.
- Gigachad 2y ago
  Apartments in Australia work seemingly different to the rest of the world where there is almost never a central landlord that owns the whole building, but every apartment has an individual owner and the rules are voted on by the owners. Sometimes the state government steps in to make certain rules invalid such as banning pets. But an attempt to let people dry their clothes on the balcony recently failed. And I can see almost zero chance of allowing solar panels since they do have a significant aesthetic impact on the building along with safety concerns around panels getting ripped off in the wind. Most buildings already have solar on the roof but it mostly just powered the lifts and hallway lights.
  - _carbyau_ 2y ago
    I spent years renting/owning apartments. Now fortunate to own a mortgage/house. The amount of freedom open to you is ridiculous. It is like becoming a "first class" citizen - a "homeowner" that the politicians pander to. It is ridiculous. To deal with apartment living is to deal with bureaucracy/politics/bullshit. And even when the people are lovely - like my last apartment building - the incentives don't align to make for sensible long term decisions for the whole building. Solar panels with or without battery? Electric car charging? Bike shed? Heatpump-everything? Upgrade building insulation? Arrange the garden to be useful? These are now options available to me on the basis of money alone - no permission from others required. It is stupid. I know that apartment living can be more efficient per capita in so many ways, better for city planning and public transport etc etc. But fuck that. A lot has to change until apartments become desirable as anything than a temporary stayover.
nikeee 2y ago
It was pretty cumbersome in Germany, too. Balcony solar is now considered the same as a satellite dish, which doesn't require special permission.
decimalenough 2y ago
As far as I can tell from 5 min on Google, balcony solar is straight up banned in Australia. As in, there are no approved models or installers, and you can't DIY anything electrical without invalidating your home insurance. A shame, because I'm renting a house, and while I'm obviously not going to invest in rooftop solar, a portable balcony setup I could take with me or easily sell the next time I move would be handy.
- macropin 2y ago
  AS/NZ standards prohibit these sorts of systems. Even most models of Victron inverters are not "approved" for grid use without an approved external anti-islanding device, which also vary depending on which energy distributer your are connecting to. Apparently Victron got fed up with dealing with CEC and paying the annual fees to be approved.
- Gigachad 2y ago
  You can set up a low voltage DC solar setup + battery yourself, but you aren't allowed to do anything that connects to the grid without the proper licenses/certifications. But I'd say the reason you can't find product licensed to do it is because the amount of savings to be had with some panels hanging of the balcony is pretty minimal, the difficulty of securing them properly so they aren't ripped off in a storm is pretty high, and no owners corp would allow it just for visual reasons alone. Australia has an absolute abundance of empty land, no trees and sun raining down on it. Makes more sense to invest in these installations and just wire it in to the grid rather than zip tieing panels to your balcony rails.
- SinFulNard 2y ago
  One option could be to join something like this: https://haystacks.solargarden.org.au/ https://haystacks.solargarden.org.au/ The big caveat is you have to sign up with their retail partner, the pricing structure is interesting - you aren't actually paid based on what is generated (or at least from memory).

nielsole 2y ago

While that stance is about Spain, in Germany only a recent law change brought about by a petition has given balcony solar privileged status, making it harder for landlords to forbid them. Change is possible.

Gigachad 2y ago
Apartments in Australia work seemingly different to the rest of the world where there is almost never a central landlord that owns the whole building, but every apartment has an individual owner and the rules are voted on by the owners. Sometimes the state government steps in to make certain rules invalid such as banning pets. But an attempt to let people dry their clothes on the balcony recently failed. And I can see almost zero chance of allowing solar panels since they do have a significant aesthetic impact on the building along with safety concerns around panels getting ripped off in the wind. Most buildings already have solar on the roof but it mostly just powered the lifts and hallway lights.
- _carbyau_ 2y ago
  I spent years renting/owning apartments. Now fortunate to own a mortgage/house. The amount of freedom open to you is ridiculous. It is like becoming a "first class" citizen - a "homeowner" that the politicians pander to. It is ridiculous. To deal with apartment living is to deal with bureaucracy/politics/bullshit. And even when the people are lovely - like my last apartment building - the incentives don't align to make for sensible long term decisions for the whole building. Solar panels with or without battery? Electric car charging? Bike shed? Heatpump-everything? Upgrade building insulation? Arrange the garden to be useful? These are now options available to me on the basis of money alone - no permission from others required. It is stupid. I know that apartment living can be more efficient per capita in so many ways, better for city planning and public transport etc etc. But fuck that. A lot has to change until apartments become desirable as anything than a temporary stayover.

nikeee 2y ago

It was pretty cumbersome in Germany, too. Balcony solar is now considered the same as a satellite dish, which doesn't require special permission.

decimalenough 2y ago

As far as I can tell from 5 min on Google, balcony solar is straight up banned in Australia. As in, there are no approved models or installers, and you can't DIY anything electrical without invalidating your home insurance. A shame, because I'm renting a house, and while I'm obviously not going to invest in rooftop solar, a portable balcony setup I could take with me or easily sell the next time I move would be handy.

macropin 2y ago
AS/NZ standards prohibit these sorts of systems. Even most models of Victron inverters are not "approved" for grid use without an approved external anti-islanding device, which also vary depending on which energy distributer your are connecting to. Apparently Victron got fed up with dealing with CEC and paying the annual fees to be approved.
Gigachad 2y ago
You can set up a low voltage DC solar setup + battery yourself, but you aren't allowed to do anything that connects to the grid without the proper licenses/certifications. But I'd say the reason you can't find product licensed to do it is because the amount of savings to be had with some panels hanging of the balcony is pretty minimal, the difficulty of securing them properly so they aren't ripped off in a storm is pretty high, and no owners corp would allow it just for visual reasons alone. Australia has an absolute abundance of empty land, no trees and sun raining down on it. Makes more sense to invest in these installations and just wire it in to the grid rather than zip tieing panels to your balcony rails.
SinFulNard 2y ago
One option could be to join something like this: https://haystacks.solargarden.org.au/ https://haystacks.solargarden.org.au/ The big caveat is you have to sign up with their retail partner, the pricing structure is interesting - you aren't actually paid based on what is generated (or at least from memory).