Higher green power production possible in winter
In the winter half-year, more renewable energy could be produced without great additional costs. Photovoltaics could make this possible. But this would require more south-facing PV systems to be installed on facades.
As is well known, the energy supply is becoming increasingly electric. Photovoltaics (PV) therefore play a major role in the expansion of domestic renewable electricity production. In 2050, it could supply around 34 terawatt hours (TWh) annually, according to the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE). According to the SFOE, the total potential for solar power production on and around buildings is 67 TWh per year, including 50 TWh on roofs and 17 TWh on facades. The systems installed in Switzerland at the end of 2019 produce about 2.5 TWh of solar power per year, of which 0.7 TWh or about 27% in the winter half-year.
The report just adopted by the Federal Council "Power generation in winter thanks to photovoltaics" investigates how the choice of specific areas, the geographical location (midland or alpine regions), the type of installation (flat or inclined) affect the solar power production in winter and the economic efficiency of the systems.
Photovoltaics: increase possible in winter without major additional costs
According to the above-mentioned report, the winter share of PV production could be increased: Optimization of the building areas used would be possible from 27% today to 30% without major additional costs. To achieve this, more PV systems would have to be installed on south-facing facades. Such façade systems are hardly built today. The addition of façade systems could, for example, be promoted by means of a higher one-off payment, similar to the current one for integrated systems, as the Federal Council writes. Of the 34 TWh of solar power in 2050, around 10 TWh could be produced in winter. An increase of the winter share up to 35% would be theoretically possible. However, this would cause disproportionately high costs, as it concludes.
Source: Confederation
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