A Noosa-based business has received a prestigious award for its work on a rooftop ‘mini solar farm’.
Team Body Corporate won the Strata Community Environmental and Engagement Award at the 2022-2023 Strata Community Australasia Awards Gala, for its involvement as body corporate managers for the Noosa Lakes Resort Solar Revenue Project.
With 94 residential townhouses and a large commercial building, the body corporate owns a considerable amount of roof real estate – enough to house a mini solar farm – that would deliver huge environmental and economic returns.
Related story: Sun smart: Noosa resort’s stunning solar investment
The project was a collaborative undertaking involving the body corporate committee, building manager, solar supplier and the body corporate manager to reduce fossil fuel usage and create a first-of-a-kind revenue stream that funded repairs to major building defects and helped pay down a significant strata loan.
Accepting the award on behalf of Team Body Corporate owners Andrew and Marianne Davidson, Adelle Sirett from said he was delighted to claim the win.
“This award means so much to us at Team,” she said. “We pride ourselves in adding and creating value for our clients and the Noosa Lakes Solar Project has been a ground-breaker within the strata sector.
“It’s a great story. The body corporate was confronted with $150,000 worth of building defects. As the work progressed a further $2m of latent defects were identified.
“It was initially thought that their only viable option was to get a strata loan. However, some lateral thinking led to the purchase and installation of a 550kWp solar system, which created an additional revenue stream.
“The system generates power to the majority of the lots within the scheme. Impressively, it generated more than $100,000 of surplus income in its first year to the body corporate.
“The payback for the solar system is estimated at 4.5 years, however, importantly, it will also enable the body corporate to pay down the further $2m of defects debt for years to come while also managing levies at an affordable level.
“The model is now being rolled out in a number of schemes that Team Body Corporate manage and is receiving a great amount of interest from other committees.”
The novel approach of the body corporate becoming an on-seller of electricity on a huge scale to create revenue is what set the project apart.
“In Australia, it is inevitable that renewable energy is where the future focus of society is going,” Ms Sirett said.
“For Team Body Corporate, we are proud of the part we play in our community and are delighted to be doing our bit to make our planet better for our future generations.”
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