Solar power in the Netherlands

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search

Solar power in the Netherlands has installed 665 megawatt (MW) of photovoltaics as of the end of 2013.[1] By August 2014, the total had reached 1 GW.[2] Subsidies of 33 euro cents per kWh introduced in 2008[3] had failed to attract much development, but when they were curtailed, Dutch banded together to make large purchases at discount instead.[4]

The largest solar installation in the Netherlands is the 2.2 MW array at the Floriade expo center built in 2002 in Haarlemmermeer.[5] In 2011, a 500-kilowatt solar array was added to the roof of Rotterdam’s central train station.[6] A 6 MW solar farm is planned to begin construction in 2015 on Ameland island.[7]

In 2012 solar capacity more than doubled to 321 MW with new added capacity of 175 MW.[8] According to the Dutch grid operators, solar capacity grew to a cumulative power of 655.4 MW at the end of 2013 [9]

In November 2014 SolaRoad, the world's first experimental solar cycle path, was opened in the village of Krommenie. 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 Holland could potentially be used to harvest solar energy.[10]

Statistics

Deployment of photovoltaic systems in the Netherlands. Nameplate capacity in MWP.

Number of Countries with PV Capacities in the Gigawatt-scale
5
10
15
20
2006
2010
2014
Growing number of solar gigawatt-markets[11]
      Countries above the 1-GW mark
  • 2014 Thailand Netherlands Switzerland
    2013 Canada Romania
    2012 Bulgaria Greece India United Kingdom
    2011 Australia China
    2010 Belgium Czech Republic France
    2009 Italy
    2008 Spain United States
    2004 Japan Germany
      Countries above the 10-GW mark
  • 2013 United States Japan
    2011 Italy
    2010 Germany
Year MWp
2001 20.5
2002 26.3
2003 45.7
2004 49.2
2005 50.7
2006 52.2
2007 52.8
2008 57.2
2009 67.5
2010 88
2011 146
2012 321
2013 665
2014 1,123[11]
Note: tentative cumulative figure for 2014 (based on estimated new capacity of 424 MW).
250
500
750
1,000
1,250
1,500
2002
2005
2008
2011
2014
Growth of photovoltaics in the Netherlands since 2001 (capacity in megawatts). Estimated figure for 2014.[11]

In addition to photovoltaics, solar energy is used extensively for heating water, with 332,217 kWth installed by the end of 2011.[12]

Gallery

See also

References