Australian solar ceiling smasher joins green building “fight” in US

Melbourne-based solar sharing champion Allume Energy has been tapped to join a team of innovators tasked with the rapid decarbonisation and electrification of non-luxury residential and commercial buildings in the state of New York, including below market rate, affordable housing.

Allume announced its place on The Clean Fight New York team on LinkedIn on Wednesday, after being named in a cohort of nine startups taking part in the second round of the not-for-profit climate-tech accelerator program.

The Clean Fight was launched in 2020 by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and New Energy Nexus, to find the most promising growth-stage clean energy startups to drive equitable building decarbonisation.

As noted in a blog announcing the new Clean Fight team, Allume was selected for its “world first” behind-the-meter hardware designed to enable multi-tenant residential and commercial buildings to share solar from a single rooftop system.

The solar ceiling-smashing SolShare technology works within an apartment block or shared commercial building’s existing metering infrastructure, or “behind the meter,” to allow solar to be distributed and billed to individual customers under the one roof.

The technology, first rolled out commercially at a mixed residential and retail building in the Melbourne Bayside suburb of Highett, has since gone on to be rolled out at apartment blocks in Melbourne, in Queensland and in the ACT.

SolShare has also been getting attention in overseas markets, including in Britain, where the multi-award winning technology was named as the go-to answer for apartment solar in the UK Green Building Council solutions library

Allume’s selection in round two of The Clean Fight now gives it a head start in the New York State market, with a guarantee of direct investment as well as the speedy adoption of their solutions through project financing and lending.

The 6-month program will see the nine companies work together with The Clean Fight’s customer and capital partners, to implement innovative and scalable solutions to bring New York State’s buildings to net zero, while also creating replicable blueprints for others to follow.

In return for their participation, the companies get access to a range of tailored benefits, including up to $250,000 each in grants, matchmaking with customer and capital partners, support services worth $25,000 per company, and expert insight into navigating the New York market.

“Decarbonisation of New York’s diverse building stock will require a systems approach to innovation to scale and accelerate retrofits at a substantially faster pace,” said NYSERDA vice president of innovation John Lochner in comments this week.

“The Clean Fight provides a platform to support and coordinate building retrofit decision makers, solution providers, and policy makers in a broader conversation to ensure we develop a pathway for and support the best solutions to meet our climate and clean energy goals,” he said.

“The good news is many of the solutions needed to decarbonise New York’s buildings already exist. Now we must work with urgency to help them scale,” said Kate Frucher, managing director of The Clean Fight.

“We believe that this cohort has the technologies and capabilities to enhance the sustainability, adaptability, and affordability of real estate infrastructure, and are thrilled to provide these startups with the resources to properly scale their solutions.”