new project to compare the performance of solar panels with and without green roofs

This is a translation of the summary of our proposal to study the performance of solar panels with and without green roofs. It is a project initiated by VU Amsterdam and conducted at the TU Delft Green Village and involved 4 small/medium enterprises as implementation partners. 

The Netherlands has more and more roofs. Those roofs get hot, which causes energy consumption and heat stress. But roofs also offer enormous opportunities, for example for generating renewable energy, and biodiversity. In this project we lay the building blocks for market creation for, and transition to, integrally sustainable roofs. We focus on integral sustainable roofs with indigenous (rather than non-indigenous) greenery (planting), in combination with circular solar panels. We focus on native greenery because it requires less maintenance, water, and fertilization, and because it increases biodiversity. We focus on circular solar panels because they are easier to reuse, and therefore create less waste. This project consists of three activities: measurement, collaboration, and knowledge dissemination. These activities lead to knowledge, partnerships, and shared support, three building blocks for market creation for, and a transition to, integrally sustainable roofs. We measure whether a native green roof cools the solar panels, the roof, and the building in the summer, and keeps the roof and building warm in the winter. 

We also measure the yield of solar panels on a green roof, and whether it is greater (due to cooling) than the yield of solar panels on a black roof (without greenery). In collaboration with various practical partners and knowledge institutions, we explore the financial feasibility and scalability of integrally sustainable roofs, gather what needs there are in education, and see what knowledge and skills for integrally sustainable roofs are lacking. We disseminate this knowledge to education, research and practice. The insights are translated into three educational modules (business administration, policy, built environment) and one educational method (nature-inclusive education). The knowledge questions serve as the basis for new practice-based research that uses citizen science. We share the results with practical organizations that can stimulate an integrally sustainable roof market, such as governments, project developers and building owners. This way we create a shared support for an integrally sustainable roof landscape.