– This is how the city and the municipalities use their solar potential
Despite expansion, there is still a lot of unused solar potential on the roofs of Winterthur and the surrounding area. This is shown by a cantonal analysis. Larger systems with high output would be particularly important.
Published today at 5:30 am
The photovoltaic system on the roof of the Technopark.
Photo: Marc Dahinden
Switzerland wants to emit zero net greenhouse gases by 2050, the canton of Zurich “by 2040, but no later than 2050” and the city of Winterthur by 2040. It is obvious that renewable energies will have to be expanded to achieve this. Solar energy seems to have the most potential: According to the Energy Perspective 2050+ of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, by 2050 it should supply more than a third of all Swiss electricity.
But this potential is still largely untapped today. This shows an analysis for 2010 to 2021, which the canton of Zurich published on Thursday. Of the 3.5 terawatt hours that one wants to produce annually from 2050, only 0.3 are possible today.
In the “Landbote” region, the frontrunners in terms of potential use are, in descending order: Ossingen, Trüllikon, Stammheim, Pfungen, Hagenbuch, Henggart, Dättlikon, Dinhard, Wiesendangen, Wila, the city of Winterthur and Bauma.
Graphics: far, source: Statistical Office of the Canton of Zurich
With 4.3 percent utilization, the city of Winterthur is not at the top, but it is at the forefront. Probably because large systems have been built on municipal buildings such as school buildings and sports facilities for a long time. One of the best-known examples: the system on the roof of the Deutweg ice rink, which supplies around 532 so-called kilowatt peaks. According to the responsible city councilor Stefan Fritschi (FDP), the latest system is on the Tägelmoos school building. Systems on the makeshift kindergarten near the Schützengarten and at the school building in Wülflingerstrasse also went online this year.
At a parliamentary session last September, however, Fritschi also admitted that there were problems with the realization of the planned 100 systems on city roofs: “We are not yet where we want to be. We haven’t reached 100 roofs yet,” he said, according to the record.
Kilowatt (kW): Electrical power is measured in watts. 1000 watts is a kilowatt, 1000 kilowatts is a megawatt. An average photovoltaic system on a family home with an output of around 10 kW produces 9500 kWh of electricity annually.
kilowatt hour (kWh): Measures how many kilowatts a building or similar consumes in one hour. The electrical power (in kilowatts) is multiplied by the consumption time in hours. For example, one kilowatt hour is equivalent to a 100 watt light bulb burning for ten hours. A Swiss household needs around 5000 kWh of electricity per year.
Kilowattpeak (kWp): Indicates the maximum output of a photovoltaic system that it can achieve with optimal solar radiation. (oil/hit)
That could be one reason why other communities do better than the left-green governed city. Trüllikon, for example, is way ahead with 6 percent. According to the responsible municipal councilor Manfred Löffler, the good position is probably partly due to a wave of renovations to older houses in the single-family home district: “Many use the work to install a solar system right away. There should be a kind of snowball effect.” In addition, Trüllikon has some larger systems on the roofs of agricultural buildings. In addition, there is a simple approval procedure: in residential zones, a registration form is sufficient, which is confirmed immediately if the system is well integrated into the townscape.
Bad values because of delays and costs
In the cantonal ranking, on the other hand, the following are listed in descending order: Dägerlen, Nürensdorf, Truttikon, Schlatt, Thalheim an der Thur, Rickenbach, Elgg, Flurlingen, Rorbas, Dorf, Wildberg, Benken and Ellikon an der Thur.
With 1.4 percent, Wildberg came in third worst within the “Landbote” region. According to mayor Dölf Conrad, however, a number of solar projects are under way: “We have had a lot of construction applications for solar systems, especially recently. So we should catch up soon, but of course it will take a while.” In contrast to wind power, which the municipal council does not support for reasons of efficiency – the municipality had made the headlines with it – the attitude towards solar energy is positive.
Elgg is also far behind with 2.1 percent – despite the Elgg energy cooperative, which is very active in solar expansion. When asked, the board of directors writes that larger systems on buildings without residential use have not been financially sustainable so far. This is because the previous return delivery tariffs from the EKZ were lower than the production costs for electricity from photovoltaic systems. Nevertheless, two systems could be realized this year. Another one is planned for October on a primary school building, and two other locations for 2024 are being examined. And: “We hope that in future the municipality of Elgg will also create incentives for the construction of photovoltaic systems,” says the board.
The canton’s analysis also shows that larger systems on buildings that are not used for residential purposes are the key to the use of potential: Today, at 40 percent, these systems supply the lion’s share of solar power in the canton. And this, although only every tenth is on a building without residential use. The reason: They are usually larger and more powerful than systems on single-family houses, for example. Although around half of all systems are located there, they only supply 20 percent of the canton’s solar power.
The canton also expects that the reduced costs will further accelerate solar expansion. There is also a new law: since September 2022, all new buildings must also contribute to their electricity requirements themselves, at least 10 watts per square meter.
Solar systems in the region
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2023-07-28 15:23:34
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