The world’s largest solar carport, spanning 350,000 square metres, has opened at the Lowlands Festival in the Netherlands.
Renewable energy company Solarfields worked with promoter MOJO Concerts to install the Solar Carport Biddinghuizen at the Lowlands Festival car park.
The sustainable carport offers space for up to 15,000 cars, and the system provides 35 MWp with the help of 90,000 solar panels. The energy can supply approximately 10,000 households with green energy and is equivalent to the power consumption of around 100 Lowlands Festival weekends.
Lowlands Festival takes place each year in Biddinghuizen with organisers working to make the event more sustainable. There is a particular focus on energy consumption, with approximately 300,000 kWh of electricity consumed by the festival every year.
The bifacial solar panels for the solar carport allow light to pass through, which means that the light reflected by the ground can also be used to generate energy. This also allows the grass under the solar panels to grow better, and because the carport is only used as a parking lot a few times a year, sheep can graze there for the rest of the year.
MOJO Concerts director Ruben Brouwer said: “We are proud of the realisation of Solar Carport. For our company it is essential that we are committed to a sustainable society and this initiative ensures that more sustainable, green energy is generated. This is an important step within our energy transition towards using renewable energy solely.”
Eric van Eerdenburg, Lowlands Festival director, added: “We are proud that this solar carport has been opened in collaboration with Solarfields after years of development.
“As a festival organisation, we want to cultivate an optimistic vision of the future and play a role in solving climate problems. In this way, we hope to be a source of inspiration for our visitors to contribute – no matter how small – to making the world more sustainable.”