Massive Hemsworth mansion near Byron Bay adds huge rooftop solar array

The controversial “mega-mansion” being built on the outskirts of Byron Bay by Hollywood power couple Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky is in the news again, this time on a more positive note – for adding an appropriately massive rooftop solar system.

The system – described by some media sources as comprising “hundreds” of solar panels – has, by One Step Off The Grid’s reckoning, around 120 of them covering much of the Hollywood Hills-style compound’s roof.

(Some of our sources believe the things on the smaller elevated section of the roof are solar panels, too, but laid flat. Add those and there are a total of around 225.)

Depending on the type and quality of the panels, this should add up to somewhere between 40-50kW of solar capacity, or even more, which considering the mansion’s six bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, gym, steam room, media room, games room, and 50-metre rooftop infinity pool, will be put to good use.

One Step has put the feelers out to see if we can get any more concrete intelligence on the size of the solar system, who installed it, and on whether there is any battery storage or other smart energy technology in the mix.

According to New Ltd reports, the celebrity couple and their three children are due to move in to the new digs next month.

Those reports also note that the construction of the $20 million mansion – perched above Seven Mile Beach – has not been without controversy, and has been branded “obscene, greedy, flashy and vulgar” by some irate locals.

Sophie Vorrath

Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and deputy editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.