According to CleanTehnica, the parking space covers an area of 35 hectares and provides 15.000 parking spots. Carports are suitable for installing solar panels, since they have flat roofs that are not used for any other purpose and are, usually, located in open spaces without much shading, which means that solar panels can be effective at harvesting solar energy.
Solarfields is the Netherlands-based company that took care of installing the solar panels and making them operational, and one of its goals is that, by 2030, about one million Dutch homes will have sustainable electricity.
Esther Terpstra, Solarfields’ Communications Manager, said that "Lowlands aims to run its festival entirely on green energy in two years’ time. The solar panels in the parking lot must eventually be connected to a battery, so that the energy can be used directly for the festival and no generators are needed anymore. Only 1 percent of the 90,000 solar panels are needed to power the festival."
She also stated that the organization aimed to make the Lowlands festival more sustainable for a few years now, since the average energy consumption by edition was around 300.000 kWh, with all the necessary electricity is provided through power generators.
While Solarfields decided not to disclose the investment, the company officials stated that the significant investment would not have been possible without a subsidy.
The 90.000 solar panel system can generate enough electricity in order to power around 10.000 homes.
Lowlands festival attracts about 60.000 visitors per year, with the parking lot being used a few times per year, and when no cars are parked here, the area is grazed by sheep.
The advantage of the solar panel system comes from the fact that it can be used even when there are no events taking place in the area, with it being connected to the grid, thus supplying the locals with electricity.
Esther Terpstra added that, while in the future, EV charging stations could be installed at the location, currently that is not possible as the area is not exclusively being used for parking.
Esther also mentioned that while installing the system and making it operational didn't take much time, obtaining the necessary permits and planning took quite a bit of time, plus there was a need for the project to get subsidy in order to be completed.
In total, the whole project took four years, but the solar panel carport at Biddinghuizen now generates power for the locals and the festivals.
Photo source: Solarfields
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