That Pip Tesselaar, freesia grower, had the premiere, was already known. On a piece of land just over one hectare, Tesselaar Freesia installed sufficient solar panels to make 'a very large step in sustainability'. The official opening took place earlier this month.
At the beginning of 2019, the project was delivered by G2 Energy, producer and supplier of solar panels. A lot of people came to look, including ourselves, but now the project has also been officially opened. "And so we are going to save a lot of gas. We will not need gas for heating the greenhouse anymore."
That is because the solar collectors convert sunlight into usable heat, which is captured in a back-flow unit which transfers it via a heat exchanger to the heating circuit at the grower in Heerhugowaard, the Netherlands.
Saving 45,000 m3 gas
The preheated water is stored in a 1,300 m3 tank, to heat the greenhouses at night with heat generated during the day. The system supplies Tesselaar with energy equal to 450.000 m3 gas. "My surplus during the summer, I store underground in a thermal storage system, so I can use a heat pump for heating during winter. And in the summer, you can use the same source to cool the freesias with the water you have used in the winter for heating, because that is returned cold of course."
Photo credits: Provincie Noord-Holland
Pip: "Because I will have more than enough heat available, I will also need less crop protection agents against botrytis. Now I deploy a heat tube and a ventilator when I am in doubt, creating a dryer climate in the greenhouse, but that won't be necessary anymore. It is great it is sustainable, and you also get SDE+ subsidy, making it also attractive."
Photo credits: Provincie Noord-Holland
The entire system is equipped with a drain-back-principle, a back-flow system, in which water, in contrary with glycol, always flows back to the back-flow tank, so there is no risk of freezing.
Photo credits: Provincie Noord-Holland
G2 Energy is working on an even larger project: 15,000 square meter
During the opening, Pip could enjoy his premiere one more time: The project in Heerhugowaard will not be the largest for long, because G2 Energy is working on a similar system of a whopping 15,000 square meters.
For more information: 
Tesselaar Freesia
Altonstraat 6
1704 CC Heerhugowaard
T: 072 572 0337
info@tesselaarfreesia.nl
www.tesselaarfreesia.nl
G2 Energy
www.g2energy.nl
info@g2energy.nl