Switzerland increases available solar rebates to $388m to support struggling market

The boost of funding available for solar rebates aims to lessen the impact of the pandemic upon the solar market and encourage more consumers to go ahead with installations

Switzerland has increased financial support for its solar rebate scheme by $47 million (£38m), increasing total funding available in rebates for rooftop solar energy projects to a total of $387.6 million (£313m).

Data and analytics firm GlobalData notes a steady rise in applications for new solar energy connections in the lead-up to January 2020, followed by a dramatic decline in applications as the coronavirus pandemic resulted in a severe drop in consumer confidence and stalled repayments as the economy was hit by the effects of the lockdown.

Somik Das, Senior Power Analyst at GlobalData, said: “The rebate scheme was targeted at not only reducing the waiting time for the implementation of FIT (feed-in-tariffs) contracts but also guarantee maximum coverage of 30% of the investment costs.

“The increase in the funding of the rebate program would put these concerns to rest. The extra funding will not only expand the rebate budget, helping authorities to maintain the guaranteed coverage against investment cost but also help reduce the waiting time for payments.”

Latest Podcast