Zonneplan installs solar panels on five hundredth Vesteda home

Vesteda reached a wonderful sustainable milestone: the five hundredth of its houses was fitted with solar panels. The project, which is being carried out by Dutch solar panel market leader Zonneplan, started in August of last year. Vesteda’s plan is to eventually have all 15,000 of its houses generate their own electricity. Residents are enthusiastic, as Vesteda does not ask them for a personal contribution. Zonneplan refers to this initiative as a "unique effort to increase sustainability".

Make a difference now

According to Paul Ingram, Sustainability and Technology Specialist at Vesteda, Vesteda wants to make the difference needed now. "The world population is growing, CO₂ emissions and energy prices are skyrocketing and the climate is changing. As a socially committed organisation, we want to contribute to a solution for these problems." In addition, Ingram believes that not just Dutch home owners, but also rental tenants should be able to contribute to the energy transition.

No personal contribution

Technical Account Manager Jasper Olsman from Zonneplan works a lot with real estate investors and housing corporations. He says it is unique that Vesteda offers the panels to tenants free of charge. Olsman: "In projects like this, tenants are usually asked to pay a monthly fee to be able to use the solar panels. This is not the case with Vesteda, while the entire output of the solar panels goes to the tenant. That shows how important Vesteda thinks it is that everyone participates.

Savings of up to € 1,500

Meanwhile, the first 500 tenants have solar panels on their roofs. Depending on their energy contract, they are now saving between € 500 and € 1,500 on an annual basis. A glance at the provisional yields shows that the panels have so far generated an average of 15 percent more electricity than forecast. This information on the performance of the solar panels and consumption is very important to Vesteda, says Paul Ingram. "Thanks to Zonneplan's technology, users can monitor very precisely whether the panels are doing their job and how much they are saving as a result. The data is sent via 4G, so residents are not dependent on their WiFi network and the security of their data is guaranteed." These insights also help Zonneplan and grid operators to respond more quickly to local cases of grid congestion. Jasper Olsman: "This will enable us to become more sustainable in the future.”