With an additional 1,500 MW of photovoltaic capacity installed in 2023, solar electricity will provide at least 10% of Switzerland’s electricity supply from 2023.
Image: Swissolar
According to Swissolar, the Swiss association of solar energy experts, around 1,500 MW of new photovoltaic energy will be installed in 2023. This corresponds to a market growth of almost 40% compared to the previous year. The strong market growth of recent years has therefore continued in 2023, despite the specialist recruitment difficulties experienced by the sector.
The installed capacity at the end of 2023 is therefore more than 6.2 GW, which enables an annual electricity production of around 6 TWh in 2024. The limit of 10% of solar electricity in Switzerland’s annual consumption, which Swissolar set in 2011 as a target for 2025, will thus achieved in the next year.
The average price of electricity rose by 28.5%
This estimate was based on registration data from promotional organization Pronovo and feedback from the market. The assessment shows that the market for both small and large devices has seen strong growth. In the area of large installations, it was another impulse, especially the introduction of a new action for installations without self-consumption (the so-called high one-off payment). This has made it possible to implement projects such as the photovoltaic installation on the retaining wall in Teufen, which is optimized for electricity generation in winter and supplies energy for around 50 households.
Another important driver of the increase in installations was, as in the previous year, the high price of electricity. Large users who buy electricity on the free market are particularly affected. But even for fixed customers, the median electricity price increased by 28.5% between 2022 and 2023. In addition, the growing use of electromobility and heat pumps favors the use of photovoltaics: many want to generate the additional electricity they need themselves.
For 2024, Swissolar expects further market growth of at least 10%. We are therefore on track to achieve the required annual increase of more than 2,000 MW from 2027, which is essential for solar electricity to contribute to the target of 35 TWh of electricity produced from new renewables under the Single Amendment Act.
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