Solar Power Plant in Switzerland

The warehouse roof at Infrapark Baselland (Muttenz, Switzerland), a unit of Clariant Products (Switzerland) Ltd., was built in the 1960s and in 2008 had serious defects causing it to leak. The need for remediation was an opportunity to generate significant economic and ecological value. The following sustainable solution was found: On behalf of Infrapark Baselland, ADEV solar AG restored the flat roof in 2010. On the renovated roof they created, at their own expense, the then largest solar power plant in northwestern Switzerland. This combination of restoring the roof and creating a solar power system was offered by ADEV as solar energy contracting. Both partners benefit from this win-win situation: the roof owner receives a roof with long life and the solar power producer does not have to set up and then uninstall the system during use time. This way the 11,000 m2 large roof was restored in only 4 months of construction, and the new solar power system could be realized with 450 kW of power. Despite adverse weather conditions with snow in late 2010, the plant was successfully commissioned shortly before end of the year. The current production reaches 458,000 kWh on annual average, which is the current average electricity consumption of about 100 households. With this new system, ADEV increased their solar power portfolio from 2.6 to 3.1 MW and produces solar electricity for over 730 Swiss households.

The solar power is fed into the power grid as part of the cost-covering feed-in regulation. The new system contributes to the federal objective to increase the share of new renewable energy by 2030 to 5,400 million kWh. At the same time renovation cost could be reduced by CHF 0.4 mio.