Solar panels causing blinding glare near Schiphol to be removed temporarily

The solar panels near Schiphol that have been blinding pilots due to sunlight reflection will be removed temporarily. They will be fitted with a special protective film that prevents glare before being reinstalled, allowing the solar park to continue operating safely next to the airport, Schiphol, the municipality of Haarlemmermeer, and De Groene Energie Corridor (DGEC), the owner of the solar park, announced on Thursday.

The solar park is situated directly below the routes that pilots take to land on the Polderbaan and the Zwanenburgbaan runways. DGEC has already begun dismantling 78,000 panels in two of the four fields.

Recently, it was decided in court that the owner must remove the solar panels, because these are the ones that cause most of the glare. The remaining 150,000 solar panels will be dismantled as quickly as possible. This is being done in phases.

In this way, the organizations say there is a prospect of a structural solution for the solar park, which still depends on the decision of the Haarlemmermeer municipal council. The organizations made the current agreements with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management.

All the parties involved have said that they will be contributing to this financially. They did not report how much money will be spent on the operation.

In March, Schiphol was forced to close the Polderbaan for arriving airplanes between the hours of 10 a.m. and noon in order to avoid the problem, and is expecting the issues to arise again after next Thursday due to the sun’s position.

The Zwanenburgbaan will not be available during sunny weather from August 28, with planes being redirected to the Oostbaan runway. The exact times for this differ per day and are dependent on the position of the sun, but it will be between 2:40 p.m. and 5 p.m. The measure will last for any time from several minutes up to an hour. This will continue until September 29, or when the solar panels have been removed.

Caretaker infrastructure minister Robert Tieman expects all solar panels to be removed by November. All the solar panels are expected to be operational again by September 2026.

Schiphol previously said that the issue also occurs in two fields where the removal of the solar panels has not begun yet.

In July, the aviation authority of the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) asked the municipality of Haarlemmermeer to revoke the permit for the solar park. An ILT spokeswoman has said that the request still stands. A spokeswoman for Haarlemmermeer stated that the municipality will ask the ILT to withdraw its request if the municipal council approves the solution.