Applications for solar rebates have almost doubled thus far this year, said Swissolar, which sees year-on-year growth in all rooftop PV segments.
Switzerland’s total installed PV capacity will reach 2.87 GW by the end of this year, according to Swissolar. It expects new record additions of 400 MW for the current year. The country deployed just 332 MW of PV last year.
Swissolar Managing Director David Stickelberger said on Thursday that annual solar generation could reach around 2,700 GWh a year and cover 4.7% of Swiss electricity consumption. Since the start of the year, the number of applications for solar rebates has almost doubled year on year, for both large and small rooftop PV systems, he said.
In April, Switzerland’s Federal Office of Energy allocated an additional CHF46 million ($47.5 million) to its residential and commercial rooftop rebate program. Rebates are available to offset 30% of the cost of buying and installing small PV systems.