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- Tribunal de Paris — Paris
Renzo Piano’s 160-metre courthouse, shaded by its own solar skin — 2,000 m² of BIPV louvres generating electricity while intercepting the Paris sun
Solar not as an afterthought but as the shading system itself — over 1,590 ISSOL® Square louvres wrapping a 160-metre courthouse in a generating, ventilated second skin
A landmark public building at 160 m — clarity, light and sustainability as architectural principles, with BIPV as the instrument
Renzo Piano Building Workshop designed the Tribunal de Paris around three principles central to the institution it houses: clarity, light and responsibility. These principles extend to its environmental strategy. The courthouse — one of the most prominent additions to the Paris skyline in a generation — had to meet HQE “Exceptionnel” certification and BBC energy performance, and its renewable energy contribution had to be legible in the architecture itself. Solar was not to be installed on the roof and forgotten; it was to be visible, purposeful and integrated into the building’s identity.
The solution: over 2,000 m² of ISSOL® Square BIPV louvres mounted on the east and west façades of the three stacked tower volumes, complemented by 152 roof-mounted modules. Each louvre is a custom-made, laminated monocrystalline glass-glass module, tilted to optimise solar exposure across the Paris irradiation profile while simultaneously acting as the primary sun-shading device for the offices behind. The result is a building that replaces a conventional brise-soleil with an active energy system — reducing cooling load and generating electricity in the same architectural layer.
PV louvres as brise-soleil — horizontal bands, a vertical spine and a ventilated cavity combining to deliver 271 kWp from the building’s own skin
- Over 1,590 custom ISSOL® Square louvres on the east and west façades, arranged in continuous horizontal bands — each module simultaneously functions as a sun-shading device intercepting direct solar radiation before it reaches the glazed envelope, and as an active electricity generator
- A vertical band of Square modules runs up the central spine of each tower volume, providing an architectural accent that visually connects the stacked volumes while contributing additional generation capacity and accommodating technical access routes
- Laminated monocrystalline glass-glass construction: each module engineered to the precise geometry of the façade — subtle tilt angle optimised per zone to maximise solar capture throughout the day while avoiding inter-panel shading on a 160-metre elevation
- Semi-transparent cell matrix with open spacing between panels: daylight is preserved for the offices behind, wind load on the tall building is reduced, and the overall façade reads as a light, permeable layer rather than an opaque cladding — consistent with Piano’s architectural intent
- Ventilated double-skin configuration: the louvre array is mounted forward of the main glazed façade on a steel substructure, creating a ventilated air gap that passively cools the PV cells (improving yield), reduces solar heat gain to the interior, and contributes to the BBC energy performance target
- 152 additional modules on the roof complement the façade array, bringing total installed capacity to 271 kWp and annual yield to approximately 175 MWh — one of the largest façade-integrated BIPV installations in France at the time of completion
Why it fits: A brise-soleil on a Renzo Piano building carries a precise architectural weight: it must read as a considered, repeating element — not as technology bolted onto a finished façade. ISSOL® Square’s modular geometry, with its orthogonal cell grid and consistent proportions, aligns naturally with the repetitive structural rhythm of the courthouse’s stacked volumes. The ability to customise cell density and tilt per module allowed the team to tune transparency and yield zone by zone across 1,590 louvres without compromising the visual coherence of the façade. At 160 metres, the system also had to perform structurally and electrically over the full height of the building — requirements that the glass-glass laminate construction of ISSOL® Square is engineered to meet. The outcome: a sun-shading system that actively contributes 271 kWp to the building’s energy balance, with no visual difference from a conventional brise-soleil at street level.
Parameters for rapid evaluation
| Parameter | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Application | BIPV solar louvres | Façade-integrated sun-shading elements doubling as active PV generators; east and west façades of three stacked tower volumes |
| ISSOL® solution | ISSOL® Square | Laminated monocrystalline glass-glass modules; custom geometry per zone; tilt-optimised for Paris irradiation profile |
| BIPV surface | ~2,000 m² | 1,590+ louvres on E & W façades + 152 roof modules; full building perimeter coverage on active faces |
| Installed power | 271 kWp | Combined façade and roof; one of France’s largest façade-integrated BIPV installations at completion in 2018 |
| Annual yield | ~175 MWh/yr | Clean electricity supplied directly to the building, reducing grid dependency |
| Louvre configuration | Horizontal bands + vertical spine | Horizontal rows across E & W façades for shading; vertical central band for architectural continuity and additional yield |
| Façade system | Ventilated double skin | Louvres mounted forward on steel substructure; ventilated gap cools cells and reduces interior solar heat gain |
| Shading function | Integrated — no separate brise-soleil | BIPV louvres replace conventional shading; intercept direct radiation before it reaches the main glazed envelope |
| Transparency | Semi-transparent | Open spacing between cells and panels preserves daylight; reduces wind load on 160 m elevation; façade reads as permeable |
| Module construction | Laminated glass-glass · monocrystalline | Structural and electrical performance specified for full building height; custom tilt and cell density per façade zone |
| Energy standard | BBC · HQE Exceptionnel | BIPV façade a direct contributor to both certifications; energy consumption below 50 kWh/m²/yr |
| Project team | Solstyce · RFR · Permasteelisa | ISSOL® supplied and engineered the PV modules; delivered in collaboration with energy designer, façade engineer and system integrator |
| Architect | Renzo Piano Building Workshop | Solar louvres conceived as the primary sun-shading and energy element of the architectural envelope |
| Developer | Bouygues Bâtiment Île-de-France (Arelia) | Paris, France |
| Completed | 2018 | Paris 17e / 19e, France |
“The louvres are not an environmental add-on — they are part of the language of the building. Every horizontal band that shades the courtroom behind it is also reading the sun, capturing it, turning it into something useful. That is what we mean when we say a building should take responsibility for its own energy: not panels on a rooftop, but a façade that earns its place in the city.”
Tribunal de Paris — Paris, France, 2018 · Renzo Piano Building Workshop
From construction to completion — 1,590 louvres assembled into a 160-metre solar façade
