Addressing climate change and cost of living pressures for apartment dwellers and owners with shared renewables
Jurisdiction: South Australia
Of South Australians living in apartments, townhouses and other shared buildings, how can we find out how many of them have the opportunity to support renewable energy?
Cost-of-living pressures are affecting many South Australians. Those living in apartments and townhouses have significant barriers to accessing cheaper and greener energy, especially if they are renting. For example - solar array to battery systems are an optimal solution to decarbonise our sources of energy, but this may not be something that an owner of a single unit in an apartment block or townhouse can install.
Whilst the cost of these stand-alone assets can be expensive, the communities formed by apartment and townhouse owners presents an opportunity for sharing this capital cost and therefore participation.
About RAA
We represent 790,000 members across South Australia and we are always looking for new ways to improve their lives.
As an organisation our purpose is to be ‘better for members, better for the community’.
The next five years will be pivotal to RAA’s future with continued focus and innovation in the areas of Motor, Home and Travel and our exploration into Energy, while optimising our environmental and social impact.
Our focus is within the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:
• Good health and wellbeing
• Affordable and clean energy
• Decent work and economic growth
• Reduced inequalities
• Sustainable cities and communities
• Responsible consumption and production
• Climate action
RAA has recently launched Home Solar and Battery Installation Service. Solar array to battery systems is one of many viable solutions to reduce our reliance and production of gas and coal fired electricity, therefore carbon emissions.
The Challenge
Given the expensive cost of such stand-alone assets, there is an opportunity for owners of shared builders such as apartments and townhouses to share the capital cost and therefore assist with greater participation.
Our assumption is that a vast majority of existing strata builds cannot support installation.
Using open data, build a solution that can identify suburbs or clusters of buildings that can support the installation of renewable energy.
Your solutions can also include other sources of renewable sources of energy in addition to solar + battery.
You may wish to look for datasets related to housing types and owner occupiers, energy sources, disposable income of renters, build date.
Additional Information
Image credit: Royal Automobile Association (RAA) of South Australia.
Entry: Challenge entry is available to all teams in Australia.