An elderly Brunswick resident’s solar panels are set to be overshadowed by a proposed 10-storey apartment development next door, which she says will make them less effective.

But the resident is left with little recourse to challenge the developer because the state planning tribunal earlier this year ruled the overshadowing as “not … unreasonable”.

Similar situations could become more common as apartment towers spring up across Melbourne, a planning expert warns.

Mary Lane’s Brunswick home, next door to a mooted apartment block on Park Street, has a set of solar panels on its roof, which were installed by her late husband before he died about 20 years ago.