Without knowing it, homeowner Johan van der Veldt from Amsterdam had become international news. His own fence was recently featured in the Financial Times with a report on solar panels. These are so cheap in the Netherlands and Germany that they are used as fences, the British business newspaper writes.
The Financial Times recently shared a graph that clearly shows that the cost of solar panels has decreased significantly in recent years. The newspaper expects that the global supply of solar panels will increase It will be three times higher than demand by the end of this year. This is said to be due to the high production of solar panels in China.
“Solar panels are so cheap that we put them everywhere,” one expert told the newspaper. “Installation costs are the main hurdle today, and the panels themselves are incredibly cheap,” says another.
Much more expensive at the time
Homeowner Johan van der Veldt says he was unable to take advantage of those low prices. “I've had the panels for a few years. When I bought them they weren't that cheap.”
Van der Veldt installed twenty solar panels as a fence four years ago. He loves it and surprises him at the same time this photo is captured globally. “I already got the solar panels. First I wanted to put them on the fence.” But he wanted to demolish it, so he made a new fence out of boards.
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He did so on the advice of energy consultant Gideon Goudsmit. She says solar panels used as fencing produce more energy than solar panels placed on the roof. “The solar panels are double-sided,” he explains. “So they can collect more sunlight for a longer period during the day.”
Exactly how much energy is saved depends on where the solar panels are placed. Of course, the more sun, the better. “If you put double-sided solar panels on a lawn with no shade, they generate 30 to 40 percent more energy per day than solar panels placed on the roof.”
Other innovations with solar panels
Nowadays, solar panels are not only placed on the roof or as a fence. There are also other ways to install solar panels. “You can use solar panels as sun protection over a window,” says Goudsmit. “They can also replace a roof instead of putting them on the roof, as was done recently, or as a fence here.”
