# Melbourne: 1,391 solar panels, 375 kW peak, installed on 48-storey office tower at 435 Bourke Street

- Published: 2026-11-13 20:57 UTC
- Section: Power & Energy › Energy
- Tags: solar facade, building-integrated photovoltaics, Melbourne skyscraper solar, 435 Bourke Street, 375 kW solar system, solar skin, office building solar panels, 550 Spencer Street
- URL: https://realtech.media/news/rt-0a03942b2b26ca24fa83240c_melbourne_1_391/

**Installation is complete on a 48-storey Melbourne office building at 435 Bourke Street. Developers say the system will cover up to 20% of its base electricity demand.**

![Melbourne: 1,391 solar panels, 375 kW peak, installed on 48-storey office tower at 435 Bourke Street](https://realtech.media/media/2026/11/db5947e8fe77ea08.webp)
*Naked Science · Сообщество*

Installation of 1,391 solar panels has been completed on the facade, roof and upper part of a 48-storey office building at 435 Bourke Street in Melbourne, Australia. The peak power of the system, which is integrated into the structure of the tower, reaches 375 kilowatts, according to Naked Science · Сообщество [1]. The developers called the project "one of the first examples in the world of large-scale use of a solar facade in a commercial office building" [1].

The developers expect that once the system reaches full capacity, planned before the end of the year, it will be able to supply up to 20% of the building's base electricity demand [1]. The project received Australian government funding more than four years ago [1].

## The facade as a power source

The developers call the installed panels a "solar skin". The main idea was to turn the walls of the skyscraper into a surface that generates electricity, rather than limiting the installation to rooftop panels [1]. The photovoltaic system covers more than 2,679 square metres and spans a significant part of the tower's exterior [1]. This increases the area available for solar cells in dense urban development, where roof space is limited [1].

Once in operation, the system is expected not only to cover part of the building's electricity needs, but also to reduce the load on the cooling systems and cut the amount of electricity drawn from the public grid [1].

## Panels instead of cladding

Unlike ordinary rooftop solar plants, these panels are not simply fixed on top of a finished structure. They replace traditional building materials: facade cladding, glazing, sun-shading elements or roofing. The photovoltaic modules thus serve both as building components and as power-generating equipment [1].

This is not the first use of building facades for power generation in Australia. In November 2024, an eight-storey office building at 550 Spencer Street, in western Melbourne, was completed with 1,182 solar panels on its facade [1]. The 375-kilowatt peak power of the Bourke Street system is more than double the stated capacity of the Spencer Street facade installation, and it is installed on a 48-storey tower rather than an eight-storey building [1].

## Sources

1. [Naked Science · Сообщество](https://naked-science.ru/community/1227532)

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Source: RealTech, realtech.media — https://realtech.media/news/rt-0a03942b2b26ca24fa83240c_melbourne_1_391/