[filesystemdude]

So, uh, generate the power somewhere other than on shady roofs?

Seriously, I don't get the weird obsession with rooftop PV as if it's the only way to be green. PV is great, but, it doesn't work for every house. Personally, I have big oaks out front helping block passive solar windows in the summer, and the peak of my roof runs north-south so cell mounting would be tricky. That doesn't mean I can't get clean energy, it just means I buy it from a utility company, who are buying it from my neighbor's house where the orientation and canopy placement makes sense to do PV.

[hedora]

I’d love to see better off-the-shelf solar purgolas, gazebos and other shade generating buildings like that (partial shade greenhouses, maybe?).

The backside of solar panels are actually quite pretty, and provide shade + partial rain barriers.

This would open up more avenues to passive cooling and also reduce the lock-step replacement of the house’s roof with solar panel installation .

[wurst_case]

This is a fantastic idea which I also recently had. Doing prelim research into how to turn something like this into a side business.