How do you install solar on a heritage home?

If there’s one thing the North Shore has more of than quaint, heritage listed houses, it’s rooftop solar panels.

In the last decade, solar installations across local LGAs have risen to around 30 percent of homes in the northern suburbs. But in some suburbs, strict heritage protections are preventing residents from powering their home with the sun. 

Clashing styles: Substantial upgrades and renovations — such as solar panels — to heritage listed homes typically require Development Application approval, a process which can take months and cost thousands of dollars.

The issue is particularly pointed in Hunters Hill, where more than 70 percent of the suburb is a heritage conservation area. 

• Data from the Australian PV Institute — who track solar uptake across the country — show Hunters Hill Council has the lowest amount of total residential solar installations of any North Shore Council, sitting at just under 1000.

What they’re saying: Mayor Zac Miles told the Lorikeet these protections “should not deter our residents from installing solar technology”.

• The council is currently drafting guidelines that would allow residents to install solar panels on heritage listed houses, without going through a burdensome DA process.

How does it work: The guidelines seek to encourage residents to install solar on the side and back of their homes, facing away from main streets and waterfront areas. If these panels are installed according to guidelines, residents will not have to apply for a DA. These guidelines include:

• Installation of panels in orderly rows and patterns symmetrical with the roof pane
  

• Panels are mounted at the same angle as the roof
  

• Are no closer than 30cm to a roofs edge
  

• Protrude no more than a metre from the roof pane

Provisions are also made for the installation of home batteries, provided they also do not face the main street from which a home is accessible from.

The guidelines derive significantly from previously existing policy the City of Sydney Council introduced in 2021, with adjustments made for Hunters Hill's many waterfront properties.

What now: If these conditions are met, residents would only need to complete a Heritage Minor Works Application on the council website. 

The draft guidelines are currently on public exhibition until May 6.

Thumbnail: Bill Mead via Unsplash, Hunters Hill Trust