The first non-binding advice on a project with an estimate of how much energy your facade can generate in a year.
A candy store of colours and possibilities for the facade.
Get inspired by the versatile possibilities.
Over the last few years, electricity prices have repeatedly been disrupted by external shocks. First by post-Covid market tightening, then by the Ukraine energy crisis, and now again by renewed geopolitical pressure in the Middle East. For building owners and developers, this raises a fundamental question: how can assets remain stable and competitive in such an unpredictable energy landscape?
The transition to renewable energy is not only an environmental imperative, but a necessity for national and strategic independence. While no single technology can solve the energy challenge on its own, solar facades are emerging as part of the solution, evolving into a strategic asset for long-term value, stability, and energy security. Here's how:
Occupiers prefer buildings with lower operating risks, strong sustainability performance, and predictable long-term costs. According to CBRE, sustainability-certified office buildings achieve an average rental premium of 4.9% across Continental Europe. In Germany’s top five office markets, tenants are willing to pay around 5.9% more for ESG-certified properties.
While a solar facade alone does not create this premium on its own, it directly strengthens the factors behind it: reduced reliance on external electricity, a stronger energy proposition for tenants, improved resilience, and a more future-proof asset.
As a representative case, a coloured solar façade of 500 m² with a power density of 150 Wp/m² results in an installed capacity of approximately 75 kWp. Under German conditions, it can generate around 72,000 to 78,750 kWh per year. Based on the 2025 benchmark electricity price of €0.2875 per kWh, this translates into approximately €20,700 to €22,600 per year in avoided electricity costs when the energy is used on-site.
If electricity prices return to crisis levels such as the 43.3 ct/kWh seen in 2022, the same facade would avoid approximately €31,200 to €34,100 in annual electricity costs. In other words: a solar facade becomes more valuable precisely when the market becomes more difficult.
Please note that each facade is unique, and actual performance will vary depending on factors such as colour, design, building orientation, and site-specific conditions. To provide a more accurate assessment tailored to your project and to better understand the potential energy generation of your building, we offer a SolarCheck service, delivering detailed, project-specific insights and performance estimates.
Buildings that generate a significant share of their electricity on-site are less exposed to price volatility and supply risks. At the same time, grid costs remain a structural challenge. The Bundesnetzagentur reports commercial network tariffs of 8.49 ct/kWh for 2025, while BDEW estimates that distribution grid investments will reach around €110 billion by 2033 and €207 billion by 2045. Reducing electricity purchases is therefore not only an energy strategy, but also a way to protect against long-term cost increases driven by infrastructure.
For facility owners and managers, this translates into greater control, more predictable service charges, improved energy budgeting, reduced exposure to price spikes, and a stronger positioning of the property as not only efficient, but operationally secure.
What makes this proposition stronger today is that energy generation no longer needs to come at the expense of aesthetics. Solarix delivers BIPV systems in a wide range of colours, enabling seamless integration into any facade design. The question is no longer whether photovoltaics can be integrated elegantly, but whether projects can afford to leave this value untapped.
For developers and owners, this means facades can create value twice: through long-term operational performance and through enhanced market positioning and asset appeal. For architects, it allows energy performance to become an integral part of the building’s design language, rather than an external add-on.
As the energy landscape continues to evolve, the question is no longer whether buildings should integrate renewable solutions, but how far they can go in doing so. Solar facades offer a clear step in that direction: turning risk into resilience, and uncertainty into long-term opportunity.
• 23 April 2025
To provide a more accurate assessment tailored to your project and to better understand the potential energy generation of your building, we offer a SolarCheck service, delivering detailed, project-specific insights and performance estimates.
Gain deeper insight into how Solarix solutions can be integrated into your project by visiting our download center, where you can access all the materials you need to get started—from product specifications to design possibilities.
