Dutch government sets up €100 million fund for PV in schools
The scheme would provide low interest loans to Dutch schools willing to go solar. Some 6,000 of the country’s 7,000 school buildings have yet to install an array.
Netherlands to test viability of solar roads
Although solar energy roads are still considered economically unviable, the Dutch water management agency, Rijkswaterstaat announced it will investigate their potential as an alternative to the lack of surfaces for PV deployment in the Netherlands.
Netherlands begins inquiry into fire accidents involving rooftop PV
The investigation will be carried out by the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research on behalf of the national enterprise agency and at the request of PV association Holland Solar and Uneto-VNI, the country’s installers’ association.
Vattenfall expands PV business in the Netherlands
The company’s Dutch unit, Nuon, has agreed to acquire three solar projects totaling 27.5 MW of capacity from Powerfield. The projects will be developed under the Netherlands’ SDE+ program, for large scale renewables.
Solar prevails again in Netherlands’ SDE+ rounds
In the 2018 spring round of the program for large-scale renewable energy projects, solar secured around 1.7 GW of the 2.3 GW of total capacity allocated. Overall, 3,744 PV projects were selected, which will comprise 57% of the round’s available budget.
Dutch government launches tender for utility-scale solar noise barrier
The solar project will be built at the A58 Highway, near the municipality of Etten-Leur. More solar noise barriers, relying on bifacial module, are planned for main roads in the Netherlands.
Netherlands to replace net metering with new scheme for residential, commercial PV
Under the new scheme, set to come into force in 2020, homeowners and small businesses investing in solar and other renewables can expect a payback period of around seven years. They will also be exempt from paying energy taxes and the ODE (Opslag Duurzame Energie), a levy on power consumers that finances the country’s renewable energy programs, for self-consumed electricity,
The European job
Energyra promises to be a lot of things: the first module maker to bring production back to the Netherlands; a manufacturer relying entirely on Made in Europe equipment and Dutch back contact solar cell technology; and a start-up betting on quality, innovation, automation, as well as high performance modules. pv magazine visited the company’s factory in Zaanstad, to get more detail on this ambitious project.
Dutch solar sector fights belief PV is eroding agricultural land
With ground-mounted solar plants popular in the Netherlands, critics says large-scale plants are devouring agricultural land. PV association Holland Solar says even if the country reaches an installed capacity of 16 GW by 2050, only 0.5% of its agricultural surfaces would be covered
Powerfield abandons plans to build 300 MW module factory in the Netherlands
The Dutch company said its project became unviable due to rapidly declining module prices. For its planned solar parks in the Netherlands, however, the company will rely on modules provided by the Dutch panel maker Energyra.
