Network café: Solar parks

Speaker: Jeroen Sluijsmans, Quartermaster Wageningen Solar Research Program

The construction of solar parks in the Netherlands is experiencing rapid growth. This is not without some debate. What is the place of solar parks in the landscape and what does it mean for the soil, biodiversity and agriculture? There are certainly opportunities for combinations with nature and agriculture, but this will require searching for an optimum between power production and other functions.

In 2018, energy generated by solar installations increased by 46%. The area of solar panels on rooftops is currently still larger than on land, but the number of solar parks on land continues to grow faster. In the Netherlands, there is discussion about using already scarce space on land for solar panels.

In 2019, Wageningen University & Research started the development and realisation of the Wageningen Solar Research Program. With this, WUR aims to work with companies, citizens and governments to develop new concepts for the production of solar energy integrated into cultural, food and natural landscapes. Quartermaster Jeroen Sluijsmans gives us an idea of how to achieve new energy landscapes.