2024-08-19 10:03:16
160 apprentices start new solar apprenticeship training
Switzerland is in danger of missing its solar expansion targets. The industry has responded with two new professions. But interest is not yet strong enough.
Installers install a photovoltaic system on the roof of a single-family house in Lucerne.
Photography: Urs Flüeler (Keystone)
The arrow points upwards. Since 2020, the installed capacity of photovoltaic systems in Switzerland has increased by more than 40% per year. This year, photovoltaic power will cover more than 10% of Switzerland’s electricity needs for the first time, according to industry experts.
The restructuring of the energy world is in full swing and requires skilled workers. The industry is responding and creating two new occupations with the support of the federal government: Solar Installers and Solar InstallersThe new guidelines were drawn up over a two-year period. The Swiss Solar Industry Association, the Polybau Education Center in Uzwil SG and experts from around 20 solar companies were responsible for the development.
Around 160 apprentices across the country have started a three-year training course in the past few weeks. Swiss Solar announced the news on Monday morning. You will learn everything about building a solar system: assembly, installation, maintenance and disassembly. Depending on your previous training, the apprenticeship period can be shortened, and some learners do so. According to the industry association, the first qualified solar installers will be climbing onto rooftops as early as summer 2025.
Swissolar is “very pleased” with the interest in the new profession. However, the association initially assumed 200 learners. This was an ambitious initial estimate, says Rita Hidalgo, Swissolar’s head of education. She is referring to the emerging profession of construction IT specialist. Fewer than 50 people were trained in the first year.
850 new skilled workers per year
One thing is certain: greater efforts will be needed in the future. According to a study by Swissolar, the industry currently has 11,000 full-time positions and must add 850 skilled workers per year until 2035. In the medium term, Swissolar expects to offer 300 apprenticeships per year, i.e. around a third of the required number. The rest should – as is the case today – be career changers who are continuing their education.
Its efforts have been praised by the industry. Because a lack of skilled workers could slow down the rapid expansion of solar energy that politicians are demanding. The economic umbrella organization Economiesuisse, for example, talks about “good signs that training is accelerating.” “Whether the solar boom arrives or the excitement dies down a bit: We need skilled Swiss workers,” said management member Alexander Keberle.
Unfortunately, however, solar systems on rooftops are not the answer to Switzerland’s electricity problems, especially in winter. To guarantee security of supply, it is particularly important to make progress in “green technologies that can supply electricity, especially in winter, i.e. hydropower, wind power, nuclear power or alpine solar farms”, Kayberer said.
Swissolar countered that the expansion of rooftop PV alone was not enough and that no power generation technology could guarantee supply on its own.
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