Thursday and Friday 21/22 March 2024 – SwissTech Convention Center Lausanne (STCC) and Livestream
Solar apprenticeships start in September 2024: young apprentices familiarise with photovoltaics. Source: © Swissolar / Reto Schlatter.
The event is organised by Swissolar together with SwissEnergy and the Association of Swiss Electricity Companies AES.
Significant contribution to energy supply – already today
“10% solar electricity by 2025”: this was the target set at the 2011 Swiss Photovoltaics Conference. At the time it seemed a very ambitious and distant goal. Today, 12 years later, we can proudly say: in Switzerland we will reach the threshold of 10% share of solar electricity already in 2024. We are therefore moving rapidly towards the goal of covering about 50% of our electricity needs with solar electricity by 2050, thus making solar energy the second pillar besides hydropower.
How do we reach 50% solar electricity?
It is significant that the opening of the Photovoltaics Conference 2024 will be led by Federal Councillor Albert Rösti, Minister of Energy, showing the current and future importance of our industry. A renowned panel discussion with experts from the SFOE, AES, EPFL, Alpiq and Swissolar will address the question of how Switzerland can achieve a 50% share of solar electricity by 2050. In view of the need for skilled labour, which is partly alleviated by new apprenticeships in the solar sector, Swissolar will present the Roadmap on Training for the Solar Industry.
The importance of the Electricity Act and its effects
The “Federal Act on a Secure Electricity Supply from Renewable Energy Sources” (Electricity Act) adopted by the Parliament is an essential condition for the further development of solar energy. Experts from the Federal Office of Energy will present the new regulations and their effects. In view of a possible popular vote on this law, the presentation on the acceptance of photovoltaics is of particular interest.
Until now, solar energy in Switzerland was strongly aimed at roofs and facades. Now photovoltaic systems installed in other contexts are increasingly the focus of attention. Another aspect that will be addressed during this conference will be photovoltaics in agriculture (agrovoltaics), at high altitudes (alpine solar) and on infrastructures.
Thematic break-out sessions on Day 2
The second day will offer the opportunity to explore topical issues in depth. In the morning, four talks will be offered in two parallel sessions entitled “Much photovoltaics in the system” and “Solutions for safe and efficient solar facades”, as well as “Research, industry, recycling” and “Operation and maintenance”. To conclude, the focus will be on local electricity communities, a new tool for optimizing the balance between production and consumption. The experiences of neighbouring countries applying similar provisions will also be presented. Anyone interested in all these topics will be able to review the presentations in the recording afterwards.
As in previous years, the conference will be accompanied by an exhibition of products from more than 50 leading players in the solar energy sector, as well as a scientific poster exhibition.
The Conference agenda can be found at this link (DE and FR). The event will again be held in hybrid form with simultaneous translation into German, French and English.
