Abstract
By 2030, the regional energy strategy (RES) U16 Regio around Utrecht demands to provide 3.6TWh of renewable electricity. In more concrete terms, this means a surface of 3,600 hectares of solar fields that are arising in the landscape within the next nine years. Though this goal might not be realistic, even the appearing of a single hectare of solar field in the landscape should not go without careful planning anymore. Plenty of research has demonstrated that solar fields can host many additional functions without decreasing their productivity. Especially in densely populated regions like the RES U16, scarce surfaces should not simply be allocated to single function land uses.
This master thesis builds upon existing knowledge on multifunctional solar fields to identify a set of design guidelines. These are combined with guidelines of garden design to inform the recent concept of EnergyGardens. After forming a set of design guidelines, a fraction of them is tested in a design for an EnergyGarden of Mastwijk in the province of Utrecht. The EnergyGarden Mastwijk is a real project, which is currently developed and planned to be implemented in 2021. The research of this master thesis was used to inform the design of the EnergyGarden Mastwijk, which goes hand in hand with the design presented in this thesis. The inclusion of an extended participation process with residents enabled to adjust the general design guidelines found in the research into design principles that reflect the local demands. The result of this thesis is an extensive collection of relevant design guidelines for EnergyGardens and a design that demonstrates how they can be translated into a specific case that serves stakeholders and residents. The design illustrates that the concept of EnergyGardens can be a valuable approach to the energy transition on a small scale.
