The world’s largest solar car park has officially opened at the famous Lowlands festival.
The three-day festival attracts more than 50,000 visitors every year. As Europe is trying to move more toward renewable energy, Lowlands is keen to contribute.
Moving away from fossil fuels
As you can imagine, the amount of electricity required to run a festival is pretty substantial. Every year, around 300,000 kWh of electricity, which now mostly comes from fossil fuels, is consumed at Lowlands, reports Euronews.
A roof with 90,000 solar panels over the festival’s parking lot covers an area of 350,000 square metres and houses more than 15,000 cars. It seems like a good solution.
Fully self-sufficient
The idea is that the festival will be able to run entirely on renewable energy within the next two years, reports NPO 3FM. With the new solar panels, that definitely seems possible.
The solar car park can generate enough power for 10,000 households. The festival itself would only need about one per cent of that generated electricity.
An inspiring vision
Festivals are known for the detrimental impact they have on the surrounding environment. But Lowlands wants to “be part of the solution, not the problem,” tells the festival director, Eric van Eerdenburg, NPO 3FM.
“As a festival-organiser, we want to cultivate an optimistic vision of the future and play a role in solving climate problems,” tells Eerdenburg Euronews.
”We hope this construction can be a source of inspiration for our visitors to contribute, no matter how small, to making the world more sustainable,” he adds.
What do you think of the new solar car park? Will you be going to Lowlands this year? Tell us in the comments.
