Switzerland is a country well known for its concern for the environment. In the ENERGY 2000 programme, the concerted efforts of the entire national economy are mobilized to achieve ambitious targets, including stabilizing total consumption of fossil fuels and CO2-emissions by the year 2000 at 1990 levels. This will in part be achieved by expanding the contribution of renewable energy sources, to reach 0,5% of national electricity generation. The target includes the installation of 50 MWp of grid-connected PV, but this would only represent 8,5 Wp per capita.

Development of central PV power stations and smaller, building integrated PV systems have proceeded in parallel. Because of limited land resources in Switzerland, emphasis is on integration into buildings and other structures. Utilities support private individuals installing PV on their homes by not restricting the export of surplus electricity into the grid and paying the marginal cost of conventional electricity to the householder. Several thousand consumers have invested in PV and now benefit in this way.

On of the main thrusts of Switzerland's PV promotion strategy now relates to public schools, and it is anticipated that by the end of 1995 there will be about 1 MWp of PV integrated into school buildings. This approach has the obvious additional benefit of demonstrating PV to students, their parents and the local community.

Switzerland pioneered the innovative installation of PV systems on sound barriers along motor ways. The first 100 kWp plant, near Chur went into operation in the autumn of 1989. Since then performance has been accurately recorded and analyzed, and the plant has fed an annual average of 100 MWh into the grid.

The first installations are on east-west oriented motorways, and studies have shown that the potential generating capacity of existing routes is 45 MWp. A much larger potential, estimated at 300 MWp, could be realized if north-south and other orientations could also be utilized. A new concept currently being developed involves the use of modules with bifacial PV cells mounted vertically on top of the sound barrier structure (see also Sounds promising - PV noise barriers in PV Power, Issue 6, December 1996).

The total PV installed capacity in Switzerland at the end of 1994 was approximately 7,2 MWp, including 5,2 MWp of grid-connected systems.