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Racking company Sunzaun has finished what it considers the first vertical bifacial solar setup in an urban commercial setting in the United States, located at Bodhi Hot Yoga & Fitness in San Rafael, California, as reported on May 21, 2026.
Beau Keeve and Katie Egan, who jointly own the business, run an all-electric operation and faced growing pressure from climbing energy expenses. Their monthly electricity charges rose from a few hundred dollars to more than $2,000 as infrared heating and humidity systems pulled all their power from the grid. A roof with structural complications and a parking lot where every spot was essential ruled out standard solar panels. Sunzaun suggested reimagining the parking lot’s edge as an energy source, turning a business drawback into a sustainable resource through vertical bifacial technology.
The installation features 16 bifacial panels, each standing 8 to 9 feet tall, placed vertically along the rear parking lot’s boundary.
Rooftop area on urban commercial buildings is often scarce and structurally challenging. Zoning rules, joint building ownership, and municipal permit processes create extra hurdles. As a result, many city-based enterprises wanting to adopt solar cannot use conventional installation methods.
Vertical bifacial solar has already shown its worth in European farming contexts, where panels are set up vertically along field edges for combined land use. The technology works because bifacial panels gather light from both sides—direct sunlight on one face and reflected or scattered light on the other. Aligned on a north-south axis, they produce useful energy throughout the day, with peak generation occurring in the morning and evening rather than at midday. What had not been tested was whether this method could function in a crowded urban setting where structures, trees, and paved areas influence light exposure, and city permitting adds difficulty.
At the Bodhi location, a portion of the studio’s outer wall next to the panels was painted white to see if surface reflection could notably boost output on the rear side of the bifacial modules. Early findings on this factor will guide future city installations where reflective elements—such as building exteriors, paved lots, or painted surfaces—could be intentionally included in system planning.
The solar project at Bodhi took roughly 10 days to build, a bit longer than the initial five-day projection. The team handled city permits, utility coordination, and on-site logistics without needing much help from the property owner. Craig Dinsdale, Sunzaun’s chief performance officer, stated that the system demanded exact integration with current electrical infrastructure and careful site planning, yet construction went smoothly with few issues.
No parking spots were eliminated for the installation. Protective bollards were placed around the panel bases, and the owners described the final result as an visual upgrade to the lot, serving as a contemporary perimeter fence. Expected yearly savings for the studio from the solar system are estimated at $5,000 to $10,000.
Urban commercial properties represent a mostly untapped market for solar energy because standard methods do not suit their physical or regulatory conditions. Vertical bifacial systems provide an alternative route, using boundary space instead of rooftops and deployable without interrupting normal activities.
San Rafael lies in Marin County, north of San Francisco, in a community known for strong environmental commitments, active wildfire season risks, and a commercial area that is growing denser. Over the coming 12 months, Sunzaun will track the Bodhi Hot Yoga installation, focusing on bifacial gains from the reflective wall, seasonal output changes, and actual savings compared to the pre-installation electricity baseline. That information will be released and shared with the industry.
Vertical bifacial solar is not meant to replace standard rooftop or ground-mounted systems, but for commercial urban buildings, it offers a workable option. The Bodhi Hot Yoga project serves as a demonstration, with data set to reveal the full outcome.
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