LARGE-SCALE DISTRIBUTED PV PROJECTS IN THE NETHERLANDS

In The Netherlands, as well as in a large number of other countries ar ound the world, photovoltaics is regarded as one of the most promising options for future power production, although bulk photovoltaic (PV) power now is still more than Jive times more expensive than grid power . The commercialization of PV will ran from small 'niche' markets to l arge-scale power plants integrated into the utility network. This does not mean, however, that PY R,D&D should concentrate on niche market a pplications only. Tomorrow's introduction of large-scale PV power plan ts can only be achieved successfully if effort is put into the develop ment and demonstration of large-scale PV technology today. The Nieuw S loten 250-kWp project (Amsterdam) and the Nieuwland 1-MW project (Amer sfoort) in The Netherlands are examples of the commitment on the natio nal and On the European level to take up this R,D&D effort seriously ( both projects are supported by Novem and THERMIE). The Netherlands 'le arning programme' for PV aims at the successful introduction of lar ge -scale, dispersed photovoltaics in the next century. The key issue of the programme, as well as of the aforementioned projects, is to establ ish a firm cooperation with builders, because future large-scale photo voltaics in The Netherlands will undoubtedly be realized on the roofs of buildings, (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.