Active Envelopes: Integrating Solar Energy into Architectural Design

"Since the widespread adoption of solar panels and photovoltaic energy, however, a recurring pattern has emerged: these systems are almost always introduced later in the process, framed as technical optimizations or responses to regulatory and energy-efficiency requirements. As a result, they tend to be treated as secondary elements, often relegated to rooftops or less visible areas and detached from the architectural language of the building."

"This separation reinforces the perception of solar energy as a technical component to be accommodated, rather than as an element capable of engaging in architectural dialogue. Some contemporary approaches, however, reverse this logic by treating facades as active, energy-generating surfaces and integrating photovoltaic systems directly into the architectural composition. It is within this context that the concept of building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) emerges, alongside the work of the Danish company SolarLab, which develops solar facades as complete architectural systems."

Architectural projects can begin from different formal, sectional, or plan-based approaches that shape design thinking. Solar panels have typically been added late as technical optimizations or to meet regulations, often confined to roofs or hidden areas and disconnected from architectural language. Treating solar energy as secondary reinforces its technical framing rather than as an architectural element. Contemporary approaches invert that logic by designing facades as active, energy-generating surfaces and integrating photovoltaics into the building composition. Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) and systems like SolarLab’s combine glass-based PV panels, ventilated facade logic, and integrated construction strategies. Such integration aligns materiality, energy performance, and expression across scales and typologies, but early-stage uncertainty remains a key design challenge.

Read at ArchDaily