Blue sky thinking: Almost one million homes have solar panels

Almost one in eight households in the Netherlands have solar panels on their roof, and this means one million homes will have solar panels by the summer, according to energy research institute DNER.

The figures are based on information from manufacturers, wholesalers and installation companies. Later this month, the national statistics office CBS will publish its own figures on solar panel usage for 2019.

‘2019 was a good year for the solar panel sector and this year things are going well too,’ DNER spokesman Rolf Heynen told the AD. ‘The one million home limit will be broken soon.’

At least 200,000 of the properties with solar panels are rental homes, and housing corporations own the bulk of these.

Cheap loans aimed at encouraging the switch to solar panels are one reason why more people are opting to make the switch to green energy, the AD said.