The energy transition must accelerate and become more efficient if the Netherlands wants to achieve its climate goals in 2050 and be climate neutral. The new Dutch program SolarNL, which started today, contributes to this and aims to build a strong industry for solar cells and solar panels.
Supported by a subsidy from the National Growth Fund, InvestNL, and private investors, production facilities will be built at several locations in the Netherlands to achieve a production volume of innovative solar cells and solar panels of over 7 GWp/year. SolarNL builds on the excellent position of the Netherlands in research and development of solar technology, the inititiave announced.
Innovative technologies
„The SolarNL program capitalizes on the extensive knowledge that the Netherlands has to develop a new generation of solar cells and panels that will build a national solar industry and accelerates the energy transition“, Marco van der Laan, program secretary SolarNL said.
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„The new solar products are made using fully circular production processes that generate limited CO2 emissions. The new solar energy systems can be invisibly integrated into the environment through aesthetic designs and have an energy conversion efficiency that is higher than existing technologies. This greatly reduces the amount of space required to implement solar energy on a large scale in our country. SolarNL is creating a new manufacturing industry for solar panels for use in our own country and in Europe. The SolarNL program thus contributes to the energy transition and the energy independence of the Netherlands and the European Union“, van der Laan underlined.
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SolarNL focuses on three innovative solar technologies, each of which will be competitive in different markets:
• high-efficiency silicon “heterojunction” solar cells;
• flexible solar foils based on the new material perovskite;
• tailor-made and light-weight solar panels for integration into buildings and automotive applications and “tandem solar cells” with a high efficiency.
Collaboration
SolarNL is carried out by a consortium of nine Dutch solar technology companies. In addition, TNO carries out a fundamental development program, and seven academic partners, led by NWO-Institute AMOLF, carry out a research program for future innovations. Four universities of applied sciences develop a human capital program to fill the 2,000 new jobs created with SolarNL. During the kick-off meeting today in the HyET Solar factory halls in Arnhem, the SolarNL collaboration was firmly consolidated and SolarNL partners presented the first results. Representatives of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, the EU, and regional development organizations presented policy visions with which they support the national and European solar industry.
Partners
Industry: Compoform, Energyra, Exasun, HyET Solar, IM Efficiency, Lightyear Layer, MCPV, Solarge, Taylor
Research: TNO, NWO-Institute AMOLF, Universities of Amsterdam, Delft, Eindhoven, Groningen, Twente, Utrecht
Human capital: Universities of Applied Sciences of Amsterdam, Hanze, Saxion, Zuyd
Financers: National Growth Fund that awarded a maximum subsidy of 312 million euro, InvestNL, and private finances. (hcn)
