The Parliament of Victoria has opened public submissions for a new inquiry examining how apartment and multi-unit residents can gain better access to clean, affordable electricity. The aim is to address the longstanding gap in Australia’s rooftop solar transition.
Referred to the Legislative Assembly on 3 December 2025, the inquiry will assess how renewable energy technologies and market settings can be adapted to better serve apartment dwellers, who have historically been locked out of direct participation in rooftop solar despite rising electricity costs.
Under its terms of reference, the inquiry will examine recent developments in energy supply and technology, barriers and inequities faced by apartment residents compared with detached households, and options including shared rooftop solar, façade and balcony solar, community batteries and virtual power plants. It will also consider the social and economic impacts of these options across different cohorts, alongside potential legislative, regulatory and planning reforms required to support deployment. This is positioned to align with Victoria’s targets of 75-80 per cent emissions reduction and 95 per cent renewable electricity by 2035.
Public submissions close on 27 February 2026, with a final report due to the Committee by 30 September 2026.
The inquiry responds to a structural imbalance in rooftop solar uptake. According to Parliament of Victoria, around 12 per cent of the state’s 2.5 million households live in apartments, with approximately 63 per cent renting. Apartment residents are more likely to be lower-income, younger and transient – a group more likely to experience legal, financial and technical barriers to installing solar systems.
The Victorian Government has already taken steps to address this gap through its Solar for Apartments program, which offers support of up to $2,800 per household or $140,000 per building. While often described as a rebate, the funding is applied as an upfront discount through participating solar retailers to reduce capital costs. Round three of the program remains open.
Victoria is also home to emerging solar-sharing technologies designed specifically for multi-unit buildings. Melbourne-based, Allume Energy, has developed SolShare, a locally designed and manufactured device that allows multiple apartments to share electricity from a single rooftop solar system behind existing smart meters. The technology has been deployed in buildings with five to 60 units, including a 44-apartment installation in Altona North, where participating households reportedly save more than $700 a year on electricity bills.
While the inquiry is Victorian in scope, the challenge is national. More than 2.5 million Australians live in apartments, accounting for around 16 per cent of private dwellings and nearly one-third of dwelling growth since 2016.
As policymakers push towards deeper electrification and higher renewable penetration, extending direct solar access to apartment residents is set to continue to climb for the years to come.
To find out more, visit the Parliament of Victoria website.