A record volume of solar panels was installed in the Netherlands in 2020. According to a new study by umbrella organization SolarPower Europe, the volume of installed solar panels grew by 2.8 gigawatt peak in 2020. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, this was still 2.6 gigawatt peak in 2019.
Only Germany has installed more solar panels
Just like in 2019, the Netherlands is also one of the 5 largest sales markets in Europe this calendar year, according to SolarPower Europe researchers. The Netherlands is in 2nd place. Only Germany has installed more solar panels this year, approximately 4.8 gigawatt peaks. Because sales in Spain have fallen, the Netherlands has taken over second place from Spain.
The figure below shows the cumulative installed capacity in Europe, which grew to 137.2 gigawatt peak in 2020. Since 2011, not as many solar panels have been installed in Europe as this calendar year: 18.7 gigawatt peak. Despite the fact that we are dealing with the corona crisis, the volume sold increased by 11 percent.
The Netherlands continues to grow to 15 gigawatt peak
SolarPower Europe has also made predictions and scenarios for the period 2020-2024. The expectation is that the Netherlands will continue to grow in the period 2020-2024 and 15.0 gigawatt peaks of solar panels will be installed in the Netherlands. This means that by the end of 2024, a total of approximately 24.2 gigawatt peaks of solar panels will have been installed in the Netherlands.
In that case, the Netherlands must tolerate two countries above it. Spain and Germany are doing better in Europe in the period 2020-2024 and it is expected that these countries will add 15.8 and 26.9 gigawatt peaks of solar panels respectively. As a result, Spain will have a volume of 29.0 gigawatt peak of solar panels at the end of 2024 and Germany will have a volume of 81.5 gigawatt peak of solar panels.