Vertical solar installations for biosolar roofs
Vertical solar installations offers a unique opportunity for combining solar power production with green roofs. The combination of renewable energy and green areas will play an important role in increasing sustainability of urban areas in the future.
Our green roof solar research is financed by Smart Oslo and RFF Oslo. We also have research collaborations with Oslobygg KF, Sempergreen and Eindhoven University of Technology.
Methods and main findings
Energy yield with PV+green roof
Our research installations gives valuable opportunities to assess the beneficial effects of green roofs on solar panels and vice versa.
Benefits of a green roof
A green roof has several beneficial effects. Among them, the opportunity to increase yield from a solar installations.
The future of sustainable urban rooftops
In the future we have to be more conscious on how we utilize available area in cities. This includes the sustainability potential of urban rooftops.
Energy yield with PV+green roof
Our first vertical solar panel installation on a green roof was installed in 2022 on Løren school in Oslo. The initial installation was expanded June 2023 to 46 kWp. By monitoring the installation we're able to establish the symbiotic benefits of solar installations on green roofs.
The green roof has withstood extended dry periods and the sedum shows signs of better growth in the areas underneath the solar panels than beside them.
Benefits of a green roof
Green roofs offer a myriad of benefits, both for cities and for nature. A green roof can:
- Increase water retention and delay stormwater run off
- Insulate buildings, storing heat in winter and reflecting heat in summer
- Decrease surrounding temperatures, which will increase PV efficiency
- Help biodiversity, especially pollinators
- Bind CO2 and local air pollution
The future of sustainable urban rooftops
Utilizing urban areas to the fullest will play a large part in the mitigation of climate change and its effects. We believe vertical solar provides a unique opportunity to effectively deploy green roofs and solar panels using the same area.
We believe the results gathered at our research installations will contribute important information for the increasing focus on sustainable urban rooftops.
VPV units for green roofs
Learn more about the VPV Unit from Over Easy Solar