I am on a strata committee. I want to investigate solar panels for use in common areas. I understand strata laws make things complicated - Any suggestions ?

Strata laws and procedures vary from state to state, but to give a general answer:

The good news is, even if common areas use very little electricity during the day, it's still possible for a solar system to pay for itself within 5 years provided the property has a retail electricity plan with a relatively high solar feed-in tariff.

Some steps we'd suggest taking:

1. Identify a suitable roof area for the solar system. North, east, and west facing roof areas are good and south can be used if other directions aren't available.
2. Determine if the common area uses single phase or 3 phase power. It will usually be single phase, but if there are lifts it may be 3 phase. With single phase power you will usually be able to install a 5 kilowatt inverter with up to 6.6 kilowatts of panels or potentially a larger system, depending on who your DNSP is. If there is three phase power then you can install a much larger system.
3. Find out how much electricity the Strata common areas use so you can estimate how much solar will save you. Our Solar & Battery Calculator may help with this:
https://www.solarquotes.com.au/solar-calculator/
4. Have a good suggestion for what will be done with the money if the electricity bill is put into credit.