Solar panels for the Schildkamp

Solar panels for the Schildkamp on old sports hall in Asperen

ASPEREN • As of July 1, De Schildkamp plans to generate energy with its own solar panels, laid on the roof of the old sports hall.

A ‘well-kept secret’ Rachel Klaare calls De Schildkamp in Asperen. With a hotel, brasserie, event location, tourists and business clients are served throughout the year. The location also still houses the sports hall dating back to 1982. The roof for this turned out to be the site for another good secret, the arrival of five hundred solar panels.

The roof of this building turned out to be the site for another good secret, the arrival of five hundred solar panels.

After first renting De Schildkamp, Klaare became full owner since last year. Even without the energy crisis, it was clear to her that sustainability was needed. “We switched to electric and largely got rid of gas. Besides renovating the roof about five years ago, that was a big project. Especially when that roof looked so nice, we knew there were new possibilities. 

Space for five hundred panels

Two years ago we made concrete plans and took a good look at the construction.”On the roof of the old sports hall we found room for five hundred panels. The energy that can be generated is equivalent to ninety households. Raymond van der Velde explains: "We will end up with 526 panels. As Sunprojects' account manager, he was approached by De Schildkamp. “Our company normally works on even larger roofs, such as those of Ikea but this is such’a beautiful project. We are proud of it.”For Klaare and De Schildkamp, Sunprojects was the ideal partner to look at the installation and associated requirements: “The seven men now on the roof in the summer heat are doing a handsome job. With the excess capacity, two more charging poles will soon be installed in the parking lot.”Asperen's old sports hall thus has a nice new purpose, outside using the sun as a source of energy and inside there are four brand new padel courts.

Band with Asperen 

“Sustainability is also long with doing something, I want to look carefully at what we can still use”, Klaare explains about the old sports hall. “And if we don't let history live on tangibly then we do so in the name.”By which she is referring to Brasserie Dirk and the accompanying history of Dirk Willems. The Schildkamp may be a well-kept secret and receive many guests from outside the region but the connection with Asperen is never far away.

The article can also be read at hetkontakt.nl