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From fundamental solar cell research to production of solar panels: SolarNL project receives 412 million to realize its plans in the Netherlands

Published on July 3, 2023

The Dutch government invests 312 million euro, plus a loan of 100 million euro, in a national program for large-scale production of solar cells and solar panels in the Netherlands. This was announced by Rianne Letschert, chair of the Advice Committee of the Dutch National Growth Fund, during a press conference on Friday, June 30th. AMOLF participates in SolarNL with research on new solar cell materials and technologies. Also, the SolarNL program office will be located at AMOLF.

Of the total amount of 312 million euro, 135 million is directly allocated to the program and 177 million is a conditional grant. In addition, a loan of 100 million euro is available. The SolarNL project is an ambitious collaboration between companies and research organizations for the development and large-scale production of circular integrated solar cells and panels in the Netherlands.

Sunlight is key to the energy transition
Electricity from sunlight plays an essential role in the energy transition. The SolarNL program takes advantage of the large knowledge base in the Netherlands to develop a new generation of solar cells and panels that will speed up the energy transition. The new solar energy products will be developed using circular production processes that emit comparatively little CO2. They will also be designed to blend in with the surroundings and produce more electricity than existing technologies. These developments will lead to a reduction of the space necessary to implement large-scale solar cell facilities in our country.

AMOLF research
AMOLF will contribute to SolarNL with research in three solar cell technologies:
– high efficiency silicon heterojunction solar cells
– flexible solar foils based on the latest material perovskite
– custom-made solar products that can be integrated in buildings and automotive applications and high efficiency tandem solar cells.

Partners
SolarNL is a consortium consisting of nine Dutch solar technology companies: Solarge, MCPV, HyET Solar, Compoform, Exasun, Energyra, Lightyear Layer, IM Efficiency, Taylor, research institute AMOLF, six universities (Amsterdam, Delft, Eindhoven, Groningen, Twente, Utrecht), TNO and four universities of applied sciences (Amsterdam, Hanzehogeschool, Saxion, Zuyd). In addition, more than 50 companies and organizations endorsed the project.

More information:

News release Dutch Government
Website SolarNL