The cooperative company Aster will provide solar panels to 50,000 social housing units in Flanders, which will be installed by EnergyVision.
Starting in August, this will be the largest ever solar panel project in Flanders, Belga News Agency reports, with over €150 million to be spent in 400,000 solar panels for social tenants.
Due to social landlords not owning their own roofs, few social dwellings are equipped with solar panels. Now, with the support of the European Investment Bank, Aster has chosen to take matters into their own hands.
The project, a joint effort between 40 Flemish social housing companies, took several years to get off the ground.
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Etienne Audenaert, Aster's chairman, told Belga News Agency of their initial struggles: "At the start of 2020, everything seemed straightforward and we were eager to get started, but suddenly the world of solar panels changed radically."
He is referring to the Flemish Government's decision to scrap the system that would have allowed houses with solar panels that produced more energy than they needed to pay less on their energy bills.
Yet Audenaert affirms that Aster is raring to go, but not before 30 residences in Herentals and Temse will be put through a pilot project in August.
If everything goes well, the rollout should begin in September, with the hope being for a further €400 million to be invested into 1 million solar panels.
