Solar Power and Daylight Under One Roof

A solar canopy can generate electricity while making the space beneath it darker. If that means turning on lights during the day, its power output tells only part of the story.

For a covered space used during daylight hours, natural light has practical value. It can reduce the need for electric lighting, as well as shape how the space looks and feels.

Lumina at the Halle aux Foires

At the Halle aux Foires in Marche-en-Famenne, Belgium, a canopy combines 432 BISOL Lumina modules with a total installed capacity of 172.8 kWp.

Installed by Reno.energy, the canopy preserves natural daylight over the public space. It shows how a substantial solar installation can be part of a roof that also lets light through.

BISOL Lumina has clear areas between its solar cells. These allow daylight through the module while the cells generate electricity. For an architect, that opens up an alternative to an opaque solar roof.

Include Daylight in the Energy Calculation

Compared with an opaque roof, a light-transmitting solar canopy can reduce the need for daytime lighting. The saving comes when the available daylight allows lamps to be dimmed or switched off.

The benefit depends on the design, the daytime use of the space and the lighting controls.

For your next canopy, ask the lighting designer how each roof option would affect lighting demand during normal opening hours. Compare this alongside expected solar generation and the cost of each design.

Where daylight is part of the brief, Lumina gives you a way to generate electricity while keeping natural light in the space below.

Share your canopy concept and tell us how the space will be used. Ask BISOL whether Lumina could be the right fit.