The owner of a solar park near Schiphol Airport must remove 78,000 solar panels because pilots are experiencing glare. That is the decision of the Noord-Holland District Court in summary proceedings. Schiphol is keeping the Polderbaan runway closed due to the glare, but wants more panels removed.
This concerns the De Groene Energie Corridor solar park in Haarlemmermeer. The summary proceedings were initiated by Schiphol and KLM. The park has 230,000 solar panels, and a significant portion of these must be removed, the preliminary relief judge decided today.
A Schiphol spokesperson tells NU.nl that the problem is not yet resolved with the court’s ruling. The judge has ordered the owner to remove two fields of solar panels, but there are two more fields that will cause problems from the end of August. “The position of the sun will then be such that the glare poses an unacceptable safety risk.”
Schiphol keeps the Polderbaan runway closed around that period. Aircraft on the Zwanenburgbaan runway would also experience inconvenience. The glare will not cause any inconvenience in the coming weeks. The spokesperson hopes that an enforcement request sent this week by aviation authority ILT “will lead to further action”.
The court ruled that the glare “poses a serious danger to flight safety” and “a significant risk of very serious accidents”.
The panels that need to be removed are located on two fields. The first field must be empty by September 1st according to the judge, and the other by October 15th.