At an event organised by that company last Friday, they were also emphatically already looking ahead. To the 2024 projects, including the first with new, even more efficient panels, but also to energy storage with batteries, for example.

Opening remarks by Willem Verwoerd. After the plenary part, Hans van Luijk summarised the programme.

"Don't stand still, because then you can't get shaved either," Willem Verwoerd of Zon Op Waterbassin referred to the political discussions about greenhouse horticulture in his opening speech on Friday afternoon. As far as he is concerned, the sector continues to make strides, including in the field of energy.

Roland van der Klauw of Wocozon

Energy Communities
Roland van der Klauw of Wocozon was invited to look ahead towards 2050. He did not escape briefly discussing political plans, such as the Energy Act, which will be debated in plenary in The Hague on Wednesday. He also pointed out bottlenecks, such as an overcrowded electricity grid. It makes Roland see opportunities for the creation of local energy communities, off the grid. As an example, he mentioned the Schoon Schip project in Amsterdam. Now still an 'experimental goat trail', but soon the future.

Jos Schlangen of Aiko updates Remon Gram of AAB and cucumber growers Bas and Jan Willem Bazuin.

Even more efficient panel
With a new solar panel with special features, growers can get even more out of their solar panel installation on a water basin this year. With that message, Zon Op Waterbassin stood this spring at HortiContact. A collaboration with Aiko was confirmed at the fair. The company supplies a special solar panel for the floating systems. This autumn, a cucumber grower in Pijnacker will get the scoop.

Plenary presentation Jos Schlangen

Jos Schlangen, Senior Business Development Manager at Aiko, discussed the unique features of the new extra-large panel, including an anti-shading technology that means that in case of contamination by, for example, bird droppings, a large part of the panel does not immediately temporarily fail due to protection, but only one cell.

Huawei's Hugo van Straten dwelt on net congestion.

Battery system
At Zon Op Waterbassin, in which Aquasol Solar and Genap were already working together, they count with an efficiency of 240 watts per square metre thanks to the new panel. The efficiency gains from new panels mean that more electricity will come from a water basin. To store that energy as well, if necessary, the market is now looking at battery systems. Huawei supplies such systems. Hugo van Straten discussed the usefulness of using battery systems and his colleague Nick de Ruyter of Wattkraft Benelux discussed safety aspects in detail.

Question round around the battery

At that point, the group of interested people had moved from a small room in Maasdijk to the adjacent hall where there was a demo set-up of a 240 kilowatt-hour battery. Standing around the battery, many questions arose, which Nick expertly answered. The air-cooled system is compartmentalised and is also equipped with a fire extinguishing module for oxygen extraction in case of fire. Those who are smart further set the system slightly off the ground to keep water out.

Nick de Ruyter of Wattkraft Benelux explained the battery system.

The most frequently asked question was also asked on Friday afternoon: How many solar panels do you place with a battery system of a certain size? Nick could not put a concrete figure on that. That's because it's quite a complex calculation, taking into account self-use for each situation, for example.

Eric van Velzen and Glenn Grootenboer of Ultramins discussed with interested parties the possibilities of USAF cavitating ultrasonic transmitters, which can easily be combined with a system with solar panels on water.

Together with partners, Zon Op Water discusses the business case for installing solar panels on water with (potential) customers, possibly including a battery system. At the fair this spring, Willem already expressed his expectation to deliver the first battery system in a project with solar panels on water before the end of the year.

Wim Nowé of Profloating, which supplies the floating system. He is here outside at a small demo setup, not yet with the latest solar panels.

Eric van Velzen briefly demonstrates how to easily hang a USAF transmitter under a solar panel system.