Switzerland

Switzerland will implement amendments to its Energy Act on April 1 to shorten planning and permitting for solar, wind and hydropower projects of national interest, while also simplifying grid expansion and appeal procedures.

Swiss startup Sun-Ways is testing removable solar panels installed on an operational railway line through a pilot project with French railway operator SNCF in Switzerland.

Researchers at SUPSI found that six Swiss PV systems installed in the late 1980s and early 1990s show exceptionally low degradation rates of just 0.16% to 0.24% per year after more than 30 years of operation. The study shows that thermal stress, ventilation, and material design play a greater role in long-term module reliability than altitude or irradiance alone.

A Swiss research team has developed a low-temperature sintering and interface-coating process that significantly improves the durability of argyrodite-based solid-state batteries. The approach delivers high ionic conductivity and long cycle life, retaining 75% of capacity after 1,500 cycles.

Researchers led by Michael Grätzel at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland have recently led efforts to improve perovskite optoelectronic properties using small-radius rubidium ion chemistry to enable more stable and efficient perovskite solar cells.

Switzerland is implementing a new winter electricity bonus for solar installations larger than 100 kW that generate over 500 kWh/kW of electricity in the winter half-year from October 1 to March 31. The country’s Federal Council has also raised the target for electricity generated by photovoltaics to 18.7 TWh by 2030.

A wastewater treatment plant in the canton of Bern has been inaugurated with what dhp Technology claims is the world’s largest foldable rooftop solar installation to date. The 3.6 MW array spans several treatment basins, allowing the existing site to serve dual purposes: wastewater treatment at ground level and solar power generation overhead.

Swissolar’s “Solar Monitor 2025” report projects annual PV additions of about 1.5 GW through 2027 and urges policymakers to sustain steady growth amid policy uncertainty and lower tariffs.

The researchers have used computational fluid dynamics-based modelling of snow patterns in an effort to establish best practices to mitigate snow accumulation in alpine PV plants.

The all-black module features a newly developed matte glass surface that minimizes distracting light reflections. According to the Swiss manufacturer, this makes the product particularly well suited for environments such as airports and residential areas.