Syntraal and MapGear collaborated on a Solar Zoning Map for Flanders. The project identifies solar potential and constraints, helping policymakers make smarter and more sustainable energy decisions.
The Government of Flanders wanted to understand more than how much solar energy could theoretically be generated. Policymakers also needed to know where the strongest opportunities were, how generation potential related to local electricity demand and which areas could support collective solar projects.
To explore those questions, the government commissioned Syntraal and MapGear to carry out preliminary research for a Solar Zoning Map covering 13,625 km² of Flanders, the northern region of Belgium. The study examined how spatial and energy data could support decisions across areas including Antwerp, Ghent, Kortrijk and Leuven.
Rather than beginning with the visual interface, the project started with the underlying question that determines whether any energy map is useful: is the right data available, reliable and detailed enough to support regional decision-making?
Traditional solar-potential maps can identify roofs or areas that are technically suitable for photovoltaic installations. For the proposed Flemish Solar Zoning Map, the ambition went further.
Syntraal and MapGear investigated how potential energy generation could be combined with electricity consumption from households and businesses. Bringing those datasets together would make it possible to identify areas where renewable-energy production and local demand could potentially complement one another.
Joris van de Ven of Syntraal explained that the intended approach combined potential energy supply with consumption patterns to reveal where opportunities for local energy sharing could emerge.
That changes the planning question from simply “Where is there space for solar?” to “Where do generation potential, electricity demand and local conditions create the strongest opportunity?”
Before a regional tool could be designed, the project team needed to establish which datasets were available in Flanders and whether they were suitable for the proposed analysis.
“Quality datasets form the foundation of this research.” - Joris van de Ven, Syntraal
The research therefore focused on identifying relevant Flemish datasets, assessing their quality and determining how they could be used. Interviews with municipal experts, knowledge centres and climate organisations were also included to understand the information already available and the requirements of prospective users.
MapGear contributed experience from existing solar-potential applications in the Netherlands and Belgium. Those applications combine sources including building and address records, elevation models and aerial photography to estimate rooftop solar potential. That experience provided a technical reference point for evaluating which approaches could be applicable in Flanders.
Privacy was another core requirement. Some energy-consumption information can become sensitive when it can be traced to individual properties. The study therefore examined how relevant data could be anonymised and processed so that useful spatial patterns could be analysed without exposing address-level information.
The study did not focus only on individual rooftop installations. Syntraal also investigated the potential of shared solar, where residents and businesses jointly participate in solar projects and the generated energy is distributed between multiple participants.
For that type of model, location matters considerably. Areas with strong generation potential may become more relevant when nearby households or companies also have sufficient electricity demand.
A Solar Zoning Map could therefore help policymakers explore where the combination of solar potential, local consumption and neighbourhood characteristics may create promising conditions for cooperative energy projects.
At the time of the study, these neighbourhood-scale energy models were still developing, with pilots and case studies expected to provide further insight into how energy sharing could work in practice. The research was also considered potentially relevant to municipalities outside Flanders facing similar regional energy-planning challenges.
The project was explicitly a preliminary study. Its first results were scheduled for spring 2022, together with visual mock-ups showing what a Flemish Solar Zoning Map could look like.
These prototypes were intended to give policymakers a practical impression of how the information might be presented and whether the concept could support their work before moving towards a broader implementation.
The project also represented the largest collaboration between Syntraal and MapGear at that point. For MapGear, it provided an opportunity to apply existing solar-data and geo-ICT expertise at regional scale outside the Netherlands.
“It is exciting to see how ambitious the Government of Flanders is about solar energy.”- Egbert Griffioen, MapGear
The case demonstrates an important principle for regional energy planning: solar suitability alone is only one part of the spatial question. Combining generation potential with electricity demand, data quality, privacy requirements and opportunities for local energy sharing can provide policymakers with a much more useful basis for deciding where further investigation or investment should be prioritised.
Regional climate targets describe the ambition. Spatial analysis can help reveal where that ambition has the strongest practical opportunities.
For governments, provinces and energy organisations, the value of a Solar Zoning Map is therefore not simply showing where panels might fit. It is creating a spatial framework in which technical potential, local demand and implementation conditions can be evaluated together.
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