Solar power in the Netherlands
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Solar power in the Netherlands has an installed capacity of around 14,249 
megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...
(MW) of
photovoltaics Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially ...
as of the end of 2021. Around 3,299 MW of new capacity was installed during 2021.


Timeline

2008 Subsidies of 33 euro cents per kWh were introduced but initially failed to attract much development, but when they were curtailed, the Dutch banded together to make large purchases at discount instead. 2011 A 500-kilowatt solar array was added to the roof of
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...
's central train station. 2012 Solar capacity more than doubled to 321 MW with new added capacity of 175 MW. 2013 According to the Dutch grid operators, solar capacity grew to a cumulative power of 655.4 MW at the end of 2013 2014 By August 2014, the total had reached 1 GW mark for the first time. 2015 The Netherlands saw its capacity grow by around 357 MW during 2015, the fourth highest in Europe in that year, its installed capacity per inhabitant remained low at 83.1 Watts per inhabitant compared to the European average of 186.1 Wp/inhab, in particular compared to its neighbour
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
at 286.7 Wp/inhab. 2016 The largest solar installation in the Netherlands, the 6 MW array at the Wadden-Island
Ameland Ameland (; West Frisian: It Amelân) is a municipality and one of the West Frisian Islands off the north coast of the Netherlands. It consists mostly of sand dunes. It is the third major island of the West Frisians. It neighbours islands Ter ...
was officially opened in June 2016. Installed capacity per capita rose to 120.1 W, thirteenth position in the EU and nearer to the EU average of 197.8 W than in preceding years. 2019 The largest solar installation in the Netherlands, the 103 MWp array in Groningen, becomes operational. 2020 The Netherlands passed the 10.000 MWp of installed PV capacity, becoming the 10th country to pass the 10 GW barrier. 2022 A new solar carport measuring 1 kilometer by 500 meters opened in Flevoland. The 90.000 solar panels with 35 MWp will power 10.000 households.


Statistics

Deployment of photovoltaic systems in the Netherlands.
Nameplate capacity Nameplate capacity, also known as the rated capacity, nominal capacity, installed capacity, or maximum effect, is the intended full-load sustained output of a facility such as a power station,
in MW P. In addition to photovoltaics, solar energy is used extensively for heating water, with 669.313 m2 installed by the end of 2020. Generating a total of 326 GWh heat energy in 2020.


Solar PV market by segment

Nearly 80% of solar power installed in the Netherlands in 2017 was for small systems of less than 10 kW, a large part being rooftop Solar PV. Larger systems over 500 kW accounted for just 6.9% of the total. By the end of 2018 private residential rooftop systems had an installed capacity of 2,307 MW, businesses rooftop systems 1,662 MW whilst solar parks amounted to 444 MW.


Residential Solar PV Capacity

According to a report on behalf of the European Commission in 2015 the Netherlands had an estimated 1,086 MW of residential solar PV capacity with 232,000 residential solar PV prosumers in the country representing 3% of households. The average size of residential solar PV systems is estimated to be 4.69 kW moving to 2030. The technical potential for residential solar PV in the Netherlands is estimated at 13,945 MW. The
payback time ''Payback Time'' is the debut album by the Iranian-Danish Eurodance producer DJ Aligator, released in 2000 on Kenneth Bager's FLEX Records. It includes the four times platinum selling single " The Whistle Song", which peaked at No. 5 on the UK S ...
for residential Solar PV in the Netherlands is 9.7 years as of 2015. Some of the advantages of small scale residential Solar include eliminating the need for extra land, keeping cost saving advantages in local communities and empowering households to become prosumers of renewable electricity and thus raising awareness of wasteful consumption habits and environmental issues through direct experience. By 2018 residential Solar PV had more than doubled to 2,307 MW. In 2021 over 1.5 million households (19% of households) have solar rooftop systems installed.


Solar roads

In November 2014
SolaRoad The SolaRoad was the world's first bike path made from solar panels, and was a prototype project testing the feasibility of various proposals for smart highways. The path opened in the week of 21 October 2014, and was designed by a consortium ...
, the world's first experimental solar cycle path, was opened in the village of
Krommenie Krommenie () is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Zaanstad, and lies about 15 km northeast of Haarlem. History Krommenie developed in the 11th century as a peat excavation settlement. In 1 ...
. The aim of the project is to test the practicality and cost efficiency of embedding solar panels into a cycle path. The idea is that the path, which is expected to generate 50 to 70 kWh/m2 each year, can power anything from street lights or traffic lights to electric cars or houses. The developers of SolaRoad believe that up to 20% of the 140,000 km of road in the Netherlands could be used to harvest solar energy. In 2017 solar panels were installed in a cycle path in
Blauwestad Blauwestad () is a village in the municipality of Oldambt in the Netherlands. It is situated on the east bank of the Oldambtmeer in the east of the province of Groningen. History After the Oldambtmeer was created in 2005, the village of Blauw ...
. In April 2017 the first heated solar cycle path was installed in the Bovenbuurtweg in Ede. The panels would stay free of snow and ice during the winter. In February 2020 the solar panels were replaced with panels with a different surface coating to make the cycle path less slippery. In May 2018 a 20 meter long solar road with 48 solar panels opened on the N401 near Kockengen. The trial was supposed to last 2 years, but was stopped a year earlier on 16 May 2019 because of safety concerns. The rough surface had worn down and had become too slippery to safely drive on. In that time the solar road geretated around 2,200 kWh of electricity. The trial was seen as a success. In May 2018 a 10 meter long and 3.5 meter wide solar cycle path was built in
Haaksbergen Haaksbergen () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands, in the province of Overijssel, in the Twente region. The ''Buurserbeek'' flows through the municipality of Haaksbergen. Population centre ...
. In September 2018 solar panels were installed in the road surface of one of the shoulder lanes of the A2 motorway near
Maarssen Maarssen () is a town in the middle of the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht, along the river Vecht and the Amsterdam–Rhine Canal. The west of Maarssen is called Maarssen-BroekStatistics are taken from thSDU Staatscourant whereas the east ...
. The solar panels cover an area of 25 square meters. On 7 March 2019 a 2-year pilot project with a 100 meter long solar bus lane opened on the N218 in Spijkenisse. The solar road was supposed to generate 30,000 kWh per year. Enough to supply electricity to around 9 households. One week after opening damage was found to the top layer of the solar road and the bus lane was closed for traffic. Investigation found that the solar panel and top layer had detached from the underlying concrete and repair would not be possible. In July 2019 the province of South Holland made the decision to discontinue the pilot and the solar road was removed. Another pilot project opened on 7 March 2019 with a 50 meter long solar road on the N232 in near
Schiphol Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport ( nl, Luchthaven Schiphol, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province ...
. This solar road suffered from the same problems as the one in Spijkenisse. The road was closed on 13 March 2019. In May 2019 the new Boekelose bridge with solar panels in the road surface opened in
Hengelo Hengelo (; Tweants: ) is a city in the eastern part of the Netherlands, in the province of Overijssel. The city lies along the motorways A1/E30 and A35 and it has a station for the international Amsterdam – Hannover – Berlin service. Popu ...
. In January 2020 a new coating layer was applied because the original coating had worn away and the panels had become too slippery for motorcycles to safely drive on. In May 2019 solar panels were installed in the cycle path next to the N324 in
Grave A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grav ...
. In February 2020 solar panels were installed in a cycle path on the Westerweg near
Den Burg Den Burg is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Texel on the island of the same name, and lies about 12 km north of Den Helder. Overview Located in the middle of the island, Den Burg is the larg ...
,
Texel Texel (; Texels dialect: ) is a municipality and an island with a population of 13,643 in North Holland, Netherlands. It is the largest and most populated island of the West Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea. The island is situated north of Den ...
. The panels cover an area of 10 square meters. In February 2020 a 25 meter long solar cycle path was installed next to the N225 in
Rhenen Rhenen () is a municipality and a city in the central Netherlands. The municipality also includes the villages of Achterberg, Remmerden, Elst and Laareind. The town lies at a geographically interesting location, namely on the southernmost par ...
. In 2021 a 60 square meter solar road for testing different kind of solar panels was opened at the Chemelot Campus in Geleen. On 14 July 2021 a 330 meter long solar cycle path opened next to the N417 in
Maartensdijk Maartensdijk is a village in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of De Bilt, and lies about 4 km north of Bilthoven. History Maartensdijk was a separate municipality until 2001, when it merged with De Bilt. Until ...
. It was the longest solar cycle path in the world when it opened. The cycle path consists of 120 modules. Initially it was estimated that the cycle path would produce about 137,000 kWh per year, which is enough electricity for around 40 households. However, due to construction errors only half of the panels are properly connected and thus the actual generated electricity is a lot lower than originally estimated. The connections are buried within the concrete, thus making it hard to repair. A 400 meter long solar cycle path is planned next to the N232 near
Schiphol Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport ( nl, Luchthaven Schiphol, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province ...
. Another 400 meter long cycle path is planned next to the N285 in Wagenberg. Both cycle paths are planned to open in 2023 and will be monitored for 5 years.


Large scale solar parks


Floating solar parks


Gallery

File:E.V.A. Lanxmeer VegetalHedge 2009.jpg, Solar PV panels and solar hot water panels combined on rooftop


See also

* Solar power in the European Union *
Wind power in the Netherlands , wind power in the Netherlands has an installed capacity of 8,304 MW, 29.6% of which is based offshore. In 2019, the wind turbines provided the country with 12% of its electricity demand during the year, a figure that is growing but somewhat bel ...
* Hydroelectric power in the Netherlands *
Renewable energy in the Netherlands Despite the historic usage of wind power to drain water and grind grain, the Netherlands today lags behind all other member states of the European Union in the production of energy from renewable sources. In 2019, the Netherlands produced just 8. ...


Notes


References

{{Renewable energy by country
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...