Scaling Solar Textiles: From Proof of Concept to Architectural Application with Heliotextile

Abstract

Lightweight textiles have long been central to membrane architecture, valued for their efficiency, flexibility, and expressive form. In parallel, the energy transition and climate adaptation agendas are creating new demands for materials that do more than provide shade or enclosure. Despite growing research and experimental attempts to integrate photovoltaic technologies into technical textiles, solar textiles have struggled to progress beyond laboratory prototypes. The step toward industrialized manufacturing remains limited, constraining commercial uptake and architectural application. This gap between experimental potential and practical realization calls for approaches that bridge material research, design practice, and large‐scale testing.

This paper presents Heliotextile, a woven solar textile integrating organic photovoltaic (OPV) modules, and examines its translation to architectural scale through the Umbra Pavilion , realized at Dutch Design Week 2025 as a full‐scale design demonstrator. Developed through a Research through Design (RtD) approach, the pavilion served to investigate the spatial, technical, and systemic implications of scaling solar textiles. Covering 40 m ² and integrating 147 OPV modules connected to a 3‐kWh storage system, it provides cooling shade by day and powers lighting by night. As an architectural testbed, the project generated insights into integration, context dependency, and interdisciplinary design negotiation, informing future applications of solar textiles in energy‐positive architectural environments.