Amsterdam Schiphol Airport Has A Serious Solar Panel Problem

In recent years, sustainability has become an increasingly important topic to major companies in the aviation industry. Whether they are airlines, manufacturers, or airports, many share a common goal of reducing carbon emissions in the sector, with the goal of becoming net zero by the middle of the century. There are many different ways in which such companies can foster sustainability.

For airports, one of the ways in which this can be done is by increasing the amount of renewable energy that they use. This can be a wide-reaching solution, with Simple Flying reporting as early as 2022 that Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) in the Indian capital city of New Delhi was already running entirely on hydro and solar power. However, solar panels are proving problematic elsewhere.

A long-running topic in Amsterdam

The presence of solar panels at Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS), the largest and busiest airport in the Netherlands, is far from a new sight, with coverage on the matter dating back at least a decade. Indeed, the NL Times reported in March 2015 that Solar Energy Works had teamed up with Schiphol Area Development and the municipality of Haarlemmermeer to “build the largest solar park in the Netherlands.”

The NL Times noted that “the solar park will consist of 120 thousand solar panels and be about the size of 52 football fields.” While built in conjunction with the airport, the intention of the project was not to provide renewable energy to Schiphol itself, but, rather, to the neighborhoods in the vicinity of the facility. Indeed, the aim was for it to “supply approximately 4,500 households with power.”

Two years later, in March 2017, area development group SADC announced that it had signed an agreement with F&S SOLAR to build the solar park, with the site chosen for the project being Groene Hoek in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer. SADC confirmed that “at a site measuring 26 hectares, the panels will generate around 15 MWh per year, (…) [and] yield a reduction in CO2 emissions of 5,580 MT.”

Newer projects

More recently, separate projects in and around Schiphol Airport have also arisen concerning the widespread installation of solar panels in order to generate renewable energy. For instance, the NL Times reported in October 2020 that the province of Noord-Holland and the municipality of Haarlemmermeer had agreed on a “plan to cover a large part of Schiphol Airport in 300 hectares of solar panels.”

This initiative came as part of a wider push for the regions of the Netherlands to make plans for sustainable energy as part of a climate agreement, with Noord-Holland alone looking to generate seven terawatt hours from a national total of 35. Haarlemmermeer, the municipality in which Schiphol is located, has been highlighted as an ideal location due to its abundance of unprotected rural areas.

According to the NL Times, the plans included installing solar panels on the airfield itself, as well as on the roofs of the airport’s buildings and car parks, with the facility reportedly agreeing to the concept as long as it could guarantee safe air operations as a result. The companies involved in the project pledged to consult local residents and the municipal council in order to secure support in the matter.

Since then, TP Solar separately announced that two of its solar park initiatives had been selected as projects by the Haarlemmermeer municipal council in 2022, as part of its drive to be energy neutral by 2050. The use of dedicated solar parks offers a wider rollout of such panels than only installing them on existing roof structures. Of the two locations selected, one (Vijfhuizerweg) is conspicuous for its vicinity to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, being located just west of the Polderbaan.

Solar panels at Schiphol today

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport’s website provides further detail concerning the presence and use of solar panels on its premises. According to the facility, this represents its third form of renewable energy, alongside existing wind and thermal sources. The airport explains that “an increasing number of buildings at Schiphol have solar panels (…) in line with our ambition to generate more sustainable energy.”

The success of these projects has allowed certain parts of the facility to become self-reliant in terms of energy production and usage. Most notably, the 6,000 solar panels that are located on the roof of the long-stay car park designated as P3 generate enough energy to power the entire parking garage, including the operation of its barriers, lights, and ticket machines. Schiphol Airport goes on to explain:

“The oldest solar farm is at the Judicial Complex, Schiphol Noordwest. Since 2012, the grassy fields have been covered with 3,000 square meters of solar panels. Several offices, the HOV Knooppunt Noord bus station, and the petrol station at Schiphol Centrum also have solar panels on the roof. The new Pier A will be getting solar panels too.”

Problems with the panels

With that being said, as admirable as Amsterdam Schiphol Airport’s solar-based sustainability initiatives are, they don’t represent a perfect solution. Indeed, as winter turns into spring, the weather is brightening, and days are becoming longer, which is ideal news for the solar panels in that they can harness more renewable energy than in the winter months. However, this has also caused a problem to arise.

Indeed, Schiphol Airport recently reported that it would be making changes to its operating procedures on account of the glare caused as the sun reflects off of its solar panels. It states that “the solar panels below the approach route to the Polderbaan Runway are outside the landing area, but, due to glare when the sun shines, they are hindering visibility for pilots. The position of the sun means that this effect occurs in the morning. Pilots have made several reports about this recently.”

With this in mind, starting on March 4th, the Polderbaan, which is 3,800 meters (12,467 feet) long and has the headings 18R/36L, has been closed to landing traffic between the hours of 10:00 and 12:00. This prevents the pilots of arriving aircraft from being affected by the glare when the phenomenon is at its most severe. The airport worked together with easyJet , KLM , and Luchtverkeersleiding Nederland under the Integral Safety Management System to prompt the change.

The operating restrictions will only apply on days when sunny weather conditions prevail, with weather forecasts being used to decide whether or not the runway in question will be available for use. The airport highlights the fact that “not using the Polderbaan will have an impact on noise levels around Schiphol, [as] landing traffic will make more frequent use of the Zwanenburgbaan and Buitenveldertbaan runways,” meaning that it will look to deploy this solution as little as possible.

Working towards a solution

At an airport as busy as Schiphol, and one where the facility has to be considerate of the impacts of increased noise pollution on local residents, closing a runway to mitigate the impact of the glare from solar panels can only be a temporary solution. With this in mind, it is working with the municipality of Haarlemmermeer and the owner of the solar park in order to devise a more permanent fix for the issue.

According to the airport, “the use of special glass (deep textured glass), which absorbs rather than reflects sunlight, is necessary for flight safety.” For the time being, Schiphol plans to implement the solution of closing the Polderbaan to arriving traffic between the hours of 10:00 and 12:00 local time until March 23rd. However, if a permanent solution is found sooner, the restrictions will be dropped.

Another Dutch airport is a solar panel role model

Elsewhere in the Netherlands, another commercial airport has been making the headlines for all the right reasons, thanks to the use of a solar park that has seen it become energy-positive. The facility in question is Rotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM), a small international facility to the southwest of Amsterdam that primarily handles leisure traffic to short-haul destinations. Among its top operators are:

• Corendon Airlines and Corendon Dutch Airlines.
• Pegasus Airlines.
• Sun Express.
• Transavia.
• TUI fly Belgium and TUI fly Netherlands.

According to Schiphol, the solar park at Rotterdam The Hague Airport has “a surface area of 7.7 hectares and more than 37,000 solar panels” and is able to “generate around 14 gigawatt hours of green energy.” With this being some three times more energy than the airport itself uses, the energy-positive facility is able to redirect the remaining energy to other users located elsewhere in the local area.

As noted at the time by Rotterdam The Hague Airport, the solar park opened in March of 2022, less than a year after “Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen installed the first panel” on July 5th, 2021. Its presence at the facility is playing a key role in its goal of being waste and emission-free by 2030. Needless to say, Schiphol will be hoping for a quick fix so that its own solar panels have a similar success story.