Erskineville residential building Zenix hosts 224 apartments. In 2022, a green building grant funded its first year NABERS rating and energy action plan.
At the time, the strata committee had already upgraded the corridor and foyer lighting to LED and installed passive infrared (PIR) occupancy sensors to control the lighting in the fire stairs and garbage rooms.
Following the energy action plan, which included a solar feasibility study, the committee decided to install a rooftop solar system.
What they did
- Installed 170 panels generating 580W each with a 10-degree tilt mount screwed down to the metal roofing (99.6 kw) to power common areas
Results
- In 2 months, the solar power system produced 27.09MWh or enough to charge an electric vehicle for 160,000km.
- The system should increase the building’s NABERS rating up to 5.5 stars when reviewed in 2026.
What’s next
The strata committee will get a revised NABERS rating to realise the potential 5.5 star rating.
It will continue monitoring energy to look for savings and determine if battery storage becomes financially viable. For example, if energy is often exported to the grid.
“Navigating the wild west of solar installations was a daunting task, however the grants and assistance from the City of Sydney went a long way to staying on the right path,”
– secretary Matt Watson said.
