The City of Melbourne has mapped every rooftop within its boundaries in order to identify the potential for boosting uptake of solar, cool and green roofs.
The roofs of Australian towns and cities are prime solar power real estate, profitable platforms for electricity generation close to the point where it will be used.
While solar panels are becoming an increasingly common sight on houses and larger buildings, many urban rooftops are still yet to realise their clean electricity generation potential.
For example, rooftops within the City of Melbourne council area would cover an area of 880 hectares – five times the area of the city’s largest park.
“Most of these rooftops are used only to store heating and cooling equipment. We could set them up to generate clean energy, increase property values and cool temperatures within the city,” said Lord Mayor Robert Doyle.
The City Of Melbourne’s Rooftop Project has determined solar panels could be installed on 637 hectares of rooftops within its area.
Results of the project indicate green or vegetated roofs are most suitable in the more structurally dense CBD, Port Melbourne, and Docklands areas. Larger commercial and industrial buildings outside the CBD could host significant solar power systems.
“We want to work with the community to help reduce power bills and increase employment within the renewable energy sector,” said Chair of the City of Melbourne’s Environment Portfolio, Cr Arron Wood.
” Rooftop solar will play an important part in helping us to reach our target of sourcing 25 per cent of the municipality’s electricity from renewable energy by 2018.”
The City Of Melbourne Rooftop Project maps can be viewed here.
Commercial and industrial building owners can take advantage of their rooftop real estate to generate cheap, clean electricity – and without needing to outlay any capital up front. In addition to Environmental Upgrade Agreements (EUA’s), large commercial solar installations can be installed under a solar power purchase agreement (solar PPA) or leasing arrangement; leaving a company’s cash free for other investments while hedging against energy cost increases.
