Rooftop solar

Solar panels on the roofs of homes are one of the options for generating renewable electricity. Over the past thirty years there has been enormous growth in the number of homes with ‘rooftop solar’ (or sometimes on walls), with the current tally standing at over one million in the Netherlands. CE Delft was commissioned by the Socialist Party (SP) to assess the scope for incentivising rooftop solar, which meets with little public resistance.

The ensuing study, focused specifically on privately owned homes, addresses the following questions:

• How much power can potentially be generated from solar pv on Dutch roofs and in particular privately owned homes?
• What schemes are currently in place to incentivise solar pv installation?
• What, if any, barriers are still hampering further increase in the use of rooftop solar?

What (new) policies could be employed to further encourage rooftop solar and what would be their additional cost?