A historic building in Salzburg’s protected old town — inside the UNESCO World Heritage core zone — has just been fitted with the first fully building-integrated solar roof the district has ever approved. The project, led by Strobl Architekten in partnership with Roofit.Solar, covers 330 m² and generates 28.5 kWp of clean power.
Getting there wasn’t simple. Because Salzburg’s rooftops are visible from viewpoints across the surrounding hills as well as from street level, the city’s Altstadtschutzkommission (Old Town Protection Commission) had to be convinced the panels wouldn’t disrupt the historic roofscape. The answer was a custom iron-grey finish, chosen specifically to match traditional standing-seam roofing rather than read as “solar” at all — and it worked: the commission signed off.
“We wanted to open up new design possibilities for buildings where conventional black solar modules aren’t suitable — because of regulations, aesthetics, or heritage requirements,” says Andres Anijalg, founder of Roofit.Solar.
Architect Michael Strobl put it simply: the roof hadn’t been renewed in 60 years, and with the technology now available, it made sense to turn it into a producer of energy rather than just a consumer of it — while keeping the maintenance as simple as any traditional metal roof, since any roofer already knows how to work with standing-seam techniques.
As covered by:
Salzburger Nachrichten — Erstes Solardach für Salzburger Welterbe-Kernzone
MeinBezirk — Historisches Gebäude erhält erstes Solardach
DDH — Erstes Solardach in Salzburg