Dive Brief:

• Melbourne, Australia is about to get the country's first solar-powered high-rise — the 60-story, 520-unit Sol Invictus, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. 
• The exterior of the building will be "wrapped" in solar cells, with power stored in a solar battery system. The curved facade is designed to catch the sun's energy as it moves from east to west during the course of a day.
• The designer of the building, which still must be approved by the planning minister, said the ultimate objective is to create an "off the grid" structure, so the team has added wind turbines, high-tech solar materials from China and low-energy LED lighting to further that goal.

Dive Insight:

In addition to residential units, which will start on the 11th floor, the building will also include commercial office and retail space, as well a childcare and medical center. Building owners said the high-rise will be the country's "first substantially off the grid green-energy generating residential tower," but conceded that the building won't be 100% self-reliant just yet. 

Critical to the building's off-grid trajectory is the use of "Tesla-like" solar power storage batteries. Tesla's Powerwall (home) and Powerpack (grid-scale) battery storage products are in high demand as homeowners and building owners look for ways to reduce energy bills and become more energy efficient, relying less on traditional energy sources. Both battery systems are in production at Tesla's partially complete gigafactory in Reno, NV.

Solar power has become an important part of the net-zero movement, in which buildings produce as much or more energy than they use. In June, the World Green Building Council announced its "Advancing Net Zero" goal of 100% net-zero buildings by the year 2050, with the target of all new buildings and major renovations being designed for net-zero energy use by 2030. Tesla's gigafactory will also be a net-zero building, powered by rooftop solar and arrays in the hills surrounding the structure.