Combining Solar Panels with Green Roofs
Modern cities are making the most of rooftop space, with green roofs becoming a popular choice due to sustainability regulations. Many wonder if solar panels can work with green roofs—and the answer is yes, but it depends on the type of green roof and mounting system.
At Over Easy Solar, we offer lightweight, non-invasive mounting systems that preserve the integrity of extensive green roofs while maximizing solar energy efficiency. Our solution minimizes impact on vegetation and drainage, ensuring a seamless combination of sustainability and energy production.
Key Factors for Solar Integrations with Green Roofs
Green Roof Type
Knowing your roof type is crucial when selecting the right solar system. Green roofs are made up of multiple layers, including a root barrier, drainage, soil, and vegetation. The two main types—extensive and intensive—can impact how well solar panels integrate with the roof.
Lightweight (50-150 kg/m²) and low-maintenance, extensive green roofs are typically planted with sedum species. These hardy plants thrive in strong sunlight and dry periods. Their minimal weight and simple design make them ideal for large-scale applications with limited structural capacity, and highly compatible with solar panel installations. Extensive green roofs create minimal interference with panels and require little upkeep, ensuring efficient integration of both systems.
Extensive Green Roofs
Intensive Green Roofs
Heavier (150-800 kg/m²) and built with thicker soil layers, intensive green roofs support a variety of plants, including grasses, shrubs, and small trees. With plant heights from 30-60 cm, they offer greater biodiversity and aesthetic value. However, their weight requires stronger structural support and more complex maintenance. This often demands additional reinforcement to support both the soil and solar panels, making integration with solar installations more challenging and requiring careful planning.
Solar panels can limit sunlight, water, and complicate maintenance, affecting plant growth. Choosing the right solar system with easy access is key to balancing plant health and energy efficiency. Here's how different mounting systems impact your green roof.
Prevent Plant-Solar Conflicts with the Right Installation
Cover large areas, causing shading and limiting sunlight and rain access. They make maintenance more challenging due to restricted access to plants and uneven vegetation growth, making them less suitable for green roofs. To avoid these issues, it's best to cover only part of the roof with solar panels, typically 50–70% of the area that would be used for a flat roof installation, leaving space for the green roof to thrive.
Conventional Panels
Elevated systems allow light and water to reach plants below, offering better conditions for growth. While maintenance is easier compared to conventional panels, they do require additional structural support and ballast. This extra reinforcement can be challenging to implement in existing buildings, making it less feasible in some cases.
Specialized Mounting Systems
Over Easy’s vertical solar panels are designed to allow both sunlight and rain to reach the plants below, minimizing shading and reducing weight. This ensures plants get continuous access to light and water. Our innovative design simplifies maintenance with easy access for plant care. Ideal for green roofs, this system reduces conflicts between solar energy production and plant health. See below for more benefits.
Vertical Bifacial Panels
Enhancing Green Roofs with Solar and Extra Benefits
Over Easy Solar’s vertical panels are perfect for retrofitting green roofs, enhancing energy efficiency without compromising plant health. They promote biodiversity, improve the green effect, and reduce roof load. With easy maintenance and optimal sunlight access, our system provides a sustainable solution that balances energy production and environmental benefits.
Our vertical solar system is designed to retrofit seamlessly onto all types of green roofs. Its ballast-free and lightweight design allows for easy installation without any modifications to the existing structure, making it compatible with a wide range of green roof systems while preserving their ecological benefits.
Perfect for Retrofitting
The Green Effect
Partial shading from the panels reduces heat by up to 10°C and prevents evaporation, helping to maintain the green roof’s hydration. This cooler environment boosts energy yields by up to 17%, maximizing output without compromising the green roof's benefits.
Our solar panels allow plants and wildlife to thrive underneath, while still capturing sunlight for energy. This creates a sustainable balance, supporting both ecological health and clean energy production.
Promote Biodiversity
Higher Energy Efficiency
The Løren School pilot project, which featured the first green roof installation in 2022, achieved an impressive specific yield of 956 kWh/kWp from May 2022 to May 2023. This performance surpasses that of a nearby conventional system, which produced 761 kWh/kWp, highlighting how our vertical panels on green roofs generate significantly more energy, even in comparison to traditional setups.
Simple Maintenance
The vertical, flat design of Over Easy solar panels ensures that the plants receive sufficient water and sunlight, while the space between the panels makes it easy to walk through and carry out necessary maintenance work.
For more tips on how to maintain your green roof, check out our blog here.
Find Green Roof Solar Grants
Ready to make the switch to clean, sustainable solar energy in Europe?
Discover the various financial support options available to help you reduce the upfront costs of your solar panel installation. Explore local and national grant programs designed to encourage renewable energy adoption for homeowners, businesses, and organizations right here in Europe. Take the first step towards a greener future and significant long-term savings by investigating the solar grants that could be within your reach. Don't miss out on the opportunity to make solar power more affordable and accessible in your local community.
P.S. While we strive to provide the most up-to-date information, grant programs and eligibility criteria can change. We strongly encourage you to cross-check the details and confirm the latest requirements directly with the relevant grant-providing authorities or official government resources in Europe.
Enova: Empowering Solar Energy Adoption in Norway
Enova offers financial grants and incentives to encourage the installation of PV systems on residential and non-residential buildings in Norway, aiming to make solar energy more accessible and contribute to a low-emission society. The actual installation of the system gives you NOK 7,500 in support. The rest of the support depends on the capacity of the system. You will receive NOK 1,250 per kWp of installed capacity, up to 20 kW. This means that you can receive up to NOK 32,500 in total.
SolarPLUS: Funding program of the state of Berlin
SolarPLUS is a funding program of the Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises. The SolarPLUS funding programme aims to provide targeted support and further accelerate the expansion of photovoltaics in Berlin by improving the profitability of solar systems.
Subsidy scheme for Cooperative Energy Generation
The Subsidy scheme for Cooperative Energy Generation (SCE) in the Netherlands supports local energy initiatives, including solar projects, that are collectively owned. It aims to boost sustainable energy production by providing financial incentives to energy cooperatives and similar groups, making community-based solar projects more viable.
LATEST GREEN ROOF PROJECTS
We are incredibly grateful for the trust and partnership of our clients and collaborators. It's thanks to your vision and support that we've been able to bring these innovative vertical solar installations on green roofs to life. We deeply value your commitment to sustainable energy solutions, and we're proud to have achieved these milestones together. Your collaboration is integral to our success, and we look forward to continuing this journey with you.
Frankfurt, Germany
Lunteren, Netherlands
Amstelveen, Netherlands
Odijk, Sempergreen HQ
FAQs about Over Easy Solar Panels on Green Roof
Will the green roof make the solar panels less efficient by shading them?
Careful planning and plant selection (low-growing, non-invasive species) are crucial to ensure that the vegetation will not cause any shading on the solar panels. For instance, suitable plant choices include sedum moss herbs, which typically grow between 5 and 20 centimeters tall, and sedum herb grasses, with a typical height range of 5 to 25 centimeters. This level of planning is vital for ensuring the best possible energy yield. Our blog post below further explains why our solar panels are the top choice for your green roofs.
Do the vertical solar panels produce as much energy as traditional solar panels?
Where can I buy Over Easy Solar’s solar panels?
Over Easy Solar’s VPV units are distributed through our trusted partners. You can find an overview of our partner in the link below. If you are a private or commercial building owner and there is no partner in your region yet, don’t worry—we’d be happy to help you find one. Simply get in touch with our team at our Contact page.
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The vertical orientation reduces panel exposure to the elements, minimizing risks like dust accumulation and hail damage
Superior Element Resistance
Reflected light from surfaces boosts energy production by up to 40 %
High Albedo
Patented stacking mechanism for easy logistics
Transport
Only 11 kg/sqm and ballast free
Weight
The world's first fully pre-assembled photovoltaic system - including integrated substructure, smart cabling and bypass diode for maximum efficiency.
Design
The industry-leading 96% bifaciality makes it ideal for east-west installations, maximizing energy production during peak pricing
Double Energy Production
