Recognizing the potential of solar energy, the Dutch government has put emphasis to expanding this technology. They have discovered 752 km2 solar suitable rooftops in the Netherlands that can offer the opportunity to power homes and harness the benefits.
Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO) is a state-owned agency in the Netherlands. It has launched an open-access database in December 2023 with information about rooftops and parking lots across the country. The report highlighted places suitable for solar panel installation.
A few months after its launch, the agency announced that the database has identified approximately 50% of all rooftops in the Netherlands are suitable for PV systems.
Their database contains information for all municipalities and regions with available space. Its data viewer shows hurdles, grid congestion hazards, connection issues and existing PV installations.
The potential difficulties highlighted in the report are as follows:
- Skylights
- Segmented roof shapes
- Weak roof structures
- Presence of asbestos
The Nationaal Solar Trendrapport 2023 research was published by Dutch New Energy (DNE) Research. It highlighted that the Dutch solar market added 4.82 GW of new PV capacity by 2023. Residential installations accounted for about 2.5 GW of the new capacity up from 2.2 GW the previous year. Out of this the remaining 2.4 GW coming from commercial, industrial and large-scale segments.
According to RVO “Of this surface area, however, only 8% is directly suitable for installing solar panels,”
The agency also stated, “In other cases, obstacles must first be resolved.”
Source: Overview of suitable roofs for solar panels per region