New buildings must generate at least 40% of their energy themselves under the BENG 3 requirements. Solar panels on the facade make this feasible.

BENG stands for Nearly Energy Neutral Buildings.As of Jan. 1, 2021, BENG requirements are mandatory for all new buildings in the Netherlands (residential and non-residential). These requirements ensure that new buildings are very energy efficient.

The BENG regulations are made up of three requirements:

1. BENG 1 - Energy requirements (kWh/m² per year).
   How much energy is needed for heating, cooling and ventilation. The lower, the better. Good insulation and airtight construction help with this.
2. BENG 2 - Primary fossil energy use (kWh/m² per year).
   This measures how much fossil energy a building uses for heating, domestic hot water, cooling and ventilation. It encourages the use of renewable installations such as heat pumps.
3. BENG 3 - Share of renewable energy (%).
   What percentage of energy use comes from renewable sources, such as solar panels or solar water heaters. A minimum percentage is required.

What does this mean for solar panels?

To comply with BENG 3, solar panels become almost indispensable.Solar panels on facades or roofs thus play a central role in meeting the requirements.

What about connection to the grid?

If you install solar panels, the power generated must be fed back into the grid (unless you consume or store everything directly yourself). This requires a proper grid connection:

• Private homes:usually a standard 1-phase or 3-phase connection is sufficient.
• New construction or large systems: here it is important to contact the grid operator at an early stage. In some regions there is grid congestion (overloading the grid), which can lead to delays or restrictions on feed-in.

The solar panels act as a full facade finish as well as an energy supplier. So you get a facade that will soon start making money.

Wall cladding represents a significant cost in the construction of a building. By choosing facades clad with solar panels, you not only save on building materials, but invest in energy generation at the same time. This innovative facade solution generates tens of euros of electricity per square meter annually. A smart and sustainable choice that makes money.

Thanks to our Vibrant technology, solar panels are available in virtually any color, with efficiencies of 80% to 98% over black panels.

In colored solar panels, some of the light is reflected rather than absorbed. Soluxa minimizes this yield loss with an advanced nanocoating that allows most of the light to pass through to the solar cells. Thus, our panels maintain a high yield.

We can supply almost any color and make an accurate calculation of the expected return in advance. Lighter colors reflect more light and therefore yield slightly less energy, but thanks to our technology, many brighter colors also achieve excellent performance.

Facades facing east, west and south combine to provide stable and staggered energy output throughout the day and through the seasons.

Are you curious how much energy your facades can generate? Below is an overview of facade orientation and an indication of the yield when using colored solar panels on the facade, applied in the Netherlands.

Facade
Indicative annual yield of a colored panel*:

• Oost: 110-130 kWh/m²/ jaar
• Zuid: 155-180 kWh/m²/ jaar
• West: 105-120 kWh/m²/ jaar
• Noord: 40-45 kWh/m²/ jaar

* Numbers are an indication based on PVGIS/JRC and depend on color. Due to annual fluctuations in sunshine hours and other factors such as shade, the actual yield may vary.

The image is a "heatmap." This shows the average hourly prices for electricity in 2024 (€/kWh), based on the EPEX spot market - the market where power is traded on an hourly basis.
Each row represents an hour of the day, each column represents a month of the year. The redder the box, the higher the power price; the greener, the lower.
What stands out?
▪️ The electricity price is highest in the morning (± 8-10 a.m.) and evening (± 5 to 9 p.m.).
▪️ In the winter months, prices are structurally higher than in the summer.

That's exactly where it gets interesting for solar panels on facades.
With a variable energy contract, your power rates follow these market prices. That means that the time of day when your solar panels generate power directly affects the value.
▪️ East and west facades produce power precisely in the morning and evening - exactly when the power price is highest.
▪️ South facades do well in the winter, when the sun is low. Even then the electricity price is high.
In short: Solar panels on facades closely match the price pattern of the energy market. So they meet energy demand at the right time.

Er zijn veel verschillende systemen om zonnepanelen aan de gevel te bevestigen. De keuze is afhankelijk van de constructie van de gevel en esthetische wensen. Soluxa maakt ook dummy panelen in dezelfde kleur als de zonnepanelen waarmee de gevel één geheel vormt in haar uitstraling.

Soluxa provides systems for façade mounting that are cutting edge both technically and aesthetically.

Blind vs. visible mounting systems

• Blind mounting
  De bevestiging is volledig uit het zicht. Dit zorgt voor een strakke uitstraling. Onder andere Fischer and SFS , among others, supply blind mounting systems.
• Visible mounting
  With this system, the mounting components remain partially visible. This system is faster and more economical to install. At Soluxa , we ensure that the visible mounting hardware is the same color as the solar panels. This creates a calm and cohesive whole. For projects, we use the Aelex system, among others. Detailed product information can be found on this website. The mounting system for solar panels | Meet Aelex