Zurich – In terms of solar systems, installed capacity in Switzerland grew by more than 40 percent in 2022 for the third year in a row. For the first time, more than 1 gigawatt was added. This is among the milestones presented by the Swissolar trade association at its general assembly on June 23.
Swissolar, the Swiss professional association for solar energy, has reached several records in 2022. As it presented at its general meeting on June 23, more than 1 gigawatt of photovoltaic capacity was added in Switzerland for the first time last year. It provided about 1 terawatt hour of additional solar power. As Swissolar also states in a media release, the growth rate was thus over 40 percent for the third year in a row.
The share of solar power in the Swiss electricity mix reached 5.8 percent. Today, the figure is already 7 percent, according to the data. Further growth of more than 20 percent is expected for the current year. The new Swissolar Managing Director Matthias Egli is “deeply impressed by the dynamics in this industry”. This means that solar companies are “capable of handling the additional growth demanded by politicians – seven times more solar power by 2035.”
In order to achieve the goals of the clearly adopted climate law, the association estimates that Switzerland will need an additional 1,000 new solar professionals annually in the medium term. That is why the first apprentices will start in 2024 with the new solar apprenticeships developed by Swissolar and the Polybau training center. More than 130 companies have already announced that they will train apprentices from the summer of 2024.
The strong growth in the industry is also creating jobs, Swissolar said. For the first time in its 45-year history, the association has more than 1,000 members with over 10,000 employees. ce/mm
