The investment at the time was enormous, but he did not have to make it himself. “There was a Mercedes-Benz on the roof here,” Sjoerdsma says, laughing. He worked at an office in the province of Noord-Holland that was involved in energy saving; that financed the ‘solar house project’. It wasn’t even connected to the mains, but used a battery.
A few weeks after the installation, Sjoerdsma had clarified one thing: “The entire neighborhood was in the dark because of a power outage, only ours was still light. The solar panels kept the lights on.”
Thirty years later, solar energy is on the rise. Not only because of massive purchasing campaigns from, for example, energy cooperatives or municipalities, also because there are various financing options for people without thousands of euros in the bank. It is possible to rent solar panels or to borrow cheaply from the government.
Feeding in more power than using it
For example, Elizabeth Dekker in Haarlem took out a loan from her municipality two years ago. “I borrowed 2500 euros, at a very low interest rate and you can also deduct that interest from the tax.” She bought six panels with it and paid off the amount in two years.
Because the energy bill was also immediately lower, it was about the same amount per month, she says. “I live alone and I return more power than I use. I still think it’s incredible and check the meter almost every day, even when it’s cloudy, to see how much power my panels are generating.”
Initially Dekker wanted to rent the solar panels because she had no money to buy them. “But then I thought: if you rent them, they don’t become yours. So when I heard about the cheap loan from the municipality, I was immediately sold.”
There are many providers who rent out solar panels. Yet there are also companies that come back from it. For example, the Essent website states that it is no longer possible to rent solar panels. “Buying gives more returns”, the company writes. Because the government uses the so-called balancing scheme in 2023, “renting panels is less interesting for most people. Essent has therefore decided to stop renting out solar panels”.
Less hassle
An understandable step, says Roebyem Anders of Sungevity. “The financial advantage that you have as an owner of solar panels is so great, even with a loan, that renting is unwise.” Anders has been committed to the development of solar energy for years. That’s how she came up with the so-called schooldak– and rental roof revolution, so that those roofs could also be used. “Of course solar panel rental companies tell you that you will be completely unburdened, but almost all providers do that nowadays.”
Apart from the costs, it has become easier to purchase solar panels anyway. The introduction of online roof scans, among other things, allows interested parties to investigate whether their roof is suitable and how much energy panels can generate, says Anders.
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