Switzerland recorded 43% more solar installations in 2021 compared to the previous year. A new record has thus been reached, the Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) said on Thursday. The market grew in all segments.
The additional photovoltaic power installed reached a new record of 683 megawatts (MW) in 2021, which corresponds approximately to a new area of 0.4 square meters per inhabitant. The total installed capacity was 3655 MW at the end of the year.
Annual production was 2842 gigawatt hours (GWh). This roughly corresponds to the annual consumption of 900,000 four-person households.
Several reasons for this increase
The reasons for this increase in installations are linked to the increase in the price of electricity and the awareness of energy supply problems. “To get out of fossil fuels and nuclear power, however, Switzerland needs regarding 13 times more solar power than today,” said SFOE.
The share of solar energy in electricity consumption reached 4.9% in 2021, compared to 4.7% a year earlier. It now reaches almost 6%.
The increase (+60%) is particularly significant in large solar installations, in family homes (+60%) and in industrial or business equipment (+53%). The average size of new installations built was 25.3 kilowatts (kW), compared to 24.5 kW in 2020. The trend towards larger solar equipment is visible across the market.
