The Specola's original instrumentation, specialised in solar observation, consists of a 150 mm aperture Zeiss refractor installed in a hemispherical dome, used for drawing the solar disc.
In addition to this equipment, night-time observations can be carried out with a 200 mm f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector (co-owned with the Ticinese Astronomical Society), set up on the lawn in front of the observatory during science communication events.