Alpine solar panels: only 4 of 30 projects under construction

Switzerland's first large alpine solar power plant has started producing electricity. It is the Sedrun Solar plant, in the Graubünden municipality of Tujetsch, in the Surselva region, currently built to about half of its planned size. Once completed, it should supply electricity to around 6,500 households.

At almost 2,000 metres above sea level, the panels benefit from better sunlight conditions than in the lowlands. The plant uses bifacial panels, designed to boost winter production by capturing light reflected off snow. Ciril Deplazes, chief executive of Energia Alpina, the company that runs the plant, explained that radiation captured on the back of the panels can account for up to a fifth of total output when the ground is covered in snow. Last winter the plant produced more electricity than expected.

The project was made possible by the Solar Express, the programme through which the federal government finances up to 60% of investments in alpine photovoltaic plants. For Sedrun Solar, the federal contribution amounts to around 50 million francs out of a total investment of 87 million.

The national picture remains modest

At the national level, however, results fall well short of the targets. Of around thirty announced projects, only four are currently under construction. Parliament approved the Solar Express in 2022, aiming to cover around 3% of Switzerland's annual electricity consumption, mainly to strengthen winter production. Today the federal government estimates the actual contribution will not exceed 1%.

Frank Rutschmann, of the Federal Office of Energy, attributes the delays to the technical difficulties of building at high altitude: strong winds, snow accumulation and grid connections that are often far from the production sites. These factors lengthen timelines and push costs above initial forecasts.

Ticino also has two plants planned under the programme. The most advanced is the Duragno alpine solar park, on Monte Tamaro, after the cantonal administrative court annulled the previous agreement on the use of communal land in January 2025. Last August, the 60-year building rights were awarded to a consortium led by AIL: the planned investment is around 46 million francs, and the plant could serve around 4,000 households; it now still needs a building permit.

In the Leventina valley, the Pontino alpine photovoltaic plant is planned, but it faces opposition from environmental organisations, which object to its location in a protected landscape area. If it overcomes these obstacles, it could cover the needs of around 3,000 households.

Questions remain open about who should bear the rising costs of these plants and how renewable energy production can be reconciled with the protection of alpine landscapes increasingly exposed to new infrastructure. For now, the federal government is focusing mainly on rooftop photovoltaic installations, a sector that continues to grow strongly.