Denmark Launches Largest Energy Community Powered by Building-Integrated Solar

Construction has started on a neighborhood-scale energy collective in Denmark powered by BIPV and BAPV. Located in Copenhagen’s Faelledby district, the Faelledby Energy Community will span over 30,000 square meters of solar rooftops, with an estimated total installed capacity of 4 MW.

The initiative will encompass several dozen rooftops equipped with crystalline silicon solar modules. Solartag, a Danish solar company, is overseeing the installation, implementing BIPV solutions on pitched roofs and BAPV on flat surfaces.

A centralized local energy community operator will be responsible for managing solar production, energy sharing, and metering across all systems.

According to Mikkel Karlsson, CEO of Solartag, this will be the largest combined BIPV-BAPV installation in Scandinavia.“It also represents one of the first scalable models integrating local energy production, architectural design, and citizen ownership,” Karlsson said. “That’s exactly the type of multi-dimensional solution the energy transition requires – one that works technically, socially, and aesthetically.”

A Solartag spokesperson pointed that the community will eventually accommodate up to 6,000 residents, including both private homeowners and tenants in publicly subsidized housing. The project also features a shared 4.5 MWh battery storage system, which will be installed in phases and centrally managed.

“The battery system enables the community to store excess solar energy generated during the day for use in the evening, helps with peak load management, and supports the national grid by providing market-based flexibility services,” the spokesperson added.

The solar system is designed to prioritize on-site consumption, with an estimated 60% to 70% of generated electricity expected to be used locally by households, schools, and public facilities within the district.

“Surplus electricity will be stored in the battery system when feasible and exported to the national grid under a collective feed-in arrangement,” the spokesperson said.

“Traditional net metering is not used. Instead, the community participates in market-based compensation mechanisms for surplus energy and grid services.”