February 12, 2023

The majority of Macquarie Quay flats face due south which is the best aspect for grabbing the suns energy. But did you know we could also be saving money by generating our own electricity from the sun via roof mounted solar panels? This could help us to reduce the costs of our communal electricity bills. The problem is because we are leaseholders we do not know how to do this.

Susan Kerrison, resident and Iain McCulloch Chair of VQMC travelled to Sussex University campus at Falmer and met Bonnie Holligan senior lecturer in property law and students (see image) on Monday 6 February 2023 to explore the possibility of fitting solar panels to our building to generate electricity.

Sue had contacted the university to see if we could obtain some free legal advice on how we as leaseholders can work with the freeholder to see if we can to install solar panels. This was the second meeting and we were able to share details of a possible arrangement and highlight potential obstacles.

The students will now work up their proposal and share with Susan and me by the end of February. We will then review their response and see what the art of the possible could be.

So, watch this space. 

Note

Macquarie Quay is managed by its lease owner residents which is coordinated by a board of Directors (VQMC Ltd). The Chair of the board is Iain McCulloch and he welcomes suggestions and volunteers who would like to put something back into our community, just like Susan is doing. If you have an idea you would like to share please contact vqmc@hotmail.com