SWEET Project
Renewable energy
Public policies

New EDGE White Paper shows extreme level of fragmentation of rooftop PV policy in Switzerland

Posted on Feb 2, 2023

Author(s)

Aïcha Besser

Communications Manager
CLIMACT

Expert(s)

Isabelle Stadelmann

Professor of Political Sciences
UNIBE

Tobias Schmidt

Professor of Energy and Technology
ETH Zurich

New EDGE White Paper shows extreme level of fragmentation of rooftop PV policy in Switzerland

Discover the interview of Tobias Schmidt, professor of Energy and Technology policy at ETH Zurich and Isabelle Stadelmann, professor of Political Sciences at UNIBERN about the White Paper about the level of fragmentation of rooftop photovoltaic (PV) policy in Switzerland.

Access the full White Paper here.

To reach its climate targets and secure its energy supply, Switzerland needs to multiply the annual deployment of renewable energy technologies, especially solar PV (as also shown in the SWEET EDGE inter-model comparison). The EDGE Policy White Paper that was just released quantifies the level of fragmentation of policy targeting PV on rooftops of households in Switzerland.

First, the White Paper analyzes the relevant policy designs on federal, cantonal and municipal levels, detecting a strong variety on both the cantonal and municipal level, as well as between distribution grid providers.

Second, it models the effect of this fragmentation on the profitability of PV installations on exemplary building types, finding extreme variance, even within cantons.

Finally, it proposes a strategy to reduce this policy fragmentation while increasing ambition in favor of a targeted harmonization of selected policy instruments to create stronger incentives for accelerated solar PV deployment and to reduce unnecessary barriers.

About SWEET EDGE and CLIMACT:

CLIMACT coordinates the implementation of 2 Swiss Energy Research for the Energy Transition (SWEET) projects:  EDGE and SWICE. With more than 22 million CHF overall funding over the period of 2021-2027, the EPFL-UNIGE-led EDGE consortium is expected to fast-track the growth of locally sourced decentralized renewable energy in Switzerland.

More about CLIMACT :

Discover our upcoming events, our CLIMACT seminar series on Youtube, our articles and follow us on Twitter @ClimactSuisse and @ClimactSwiss and Linkedin.

Stay up-to-date with CLIMACT's news